LOUISVILLE BEACH

Kid Congo writes:
....sad news: Hubert Selby Jr. died yesterday (†04-26-04 ed.).
I LOVED his books. Last Exit to Brooklyn most notably..I once saw him do a reading in Los Angeles and he read a story he had wrote about Billie Holiday and i was weeping at it's beauty..That's my kind of ART!.....

jan pankow: A Little Respect, ma fav. Selby( Eulogy by Nick Tosches )

2004-05-09T07:03:00.000-05:00

Poem of the week

BARS

If you want
a cage, my dear
you do not have
to travel far.
If you want to feel
hemmed in, you’ll be hemmed in.
Look for scars
you’ll be full of scars.
Even light can turn
into a cage.
The cage of light
has seven bars.

KEKI DARUWALLA

Keki Daruwalla page

2004-05-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

P.I. newsletter:
Editorial:
MAY 1, 2004
These central pages of PIW will be on a light publishing schedule all through May, but to compensate, we present to you the biggest, fattest issue yet of our monthly magazine: ninety poems by thirteen poets from seven countries, including a brand-new one: India!

New country: INDIA

Poem of the week: BARS

New Poets of the quarter:
TATJANA GROMAČA
MARIO SU?KO

MANOLIS ANAGNOSTAKIS
NIKOS FOKAS
HARIS VLAVIAN?S

VASANT ABAJI DAHAKE
KEKI DARUWALLA

SHIMON ADAF
AVOTH YESHURUN

NURIT ZARCHI

FATIHA MORCHID

BRANE MOZETIČ

IVAN MALKOVYCH

Extra work from:
LE?N DE GREIFF

SERHIY ZHADAN

Latest poetry news:
Nikos Stangos, 1936-2004
Thom Gunn, 1929-2004
Bryce wins National Poetry Competition
Queen?s Gold Medal for Hugo Williams
?Poets die younger?
Sa?di celebrations in Shiraz
Poetry from new EU members
Thomas?s love letter sold
Hughes-Baskin letters in British Library

2004-04-20T17:16:00.000-05:00

Tuesday Night Reading Series
April 20, 2004 8:00 - 11:00 PM
SYNCHRONICITY Art Gallery
56 Adams Evansville, Indiana
Host: William Sovern

The award winning Tuesday Night Reading Series celebrates it's move to
a new venue, SYCHRONICITY Art Gallery, by featuring the internationally known
music & poetry troupe the Viking Hillbilly Apocalpse Revue ( Ron Whitehead, Sarah
Elizabeth, Andy Cook, Michael Pollock & Dean Mclean ). Artist/Writer, David Minton
will be on hand to Document the performance as part of the Viking Hillbilly
Apocalpse Revue's Not-Knowing Tour. Also performing are Vincent Boren, Allen
Johnson, Susan Stark & Shakespeare's Monkey.

Catering by the Alley Savant

P.S. For all you Kentucky Derby fans on May 1 when the horse come
thundering down the back stretch it will be yours truly, William sovern, operating
the camera. Although thousands have seen my art exhibitions, PBS
documentaries and poetry performances, this will be my biggest audience to date.

Poetically yours, William Sovern

2004-04-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

YOU HAVEN'T MET HER

Of course, you have not met her,
Loveness, the sunshine of the city,
once the honey-pie of the ghetto,
the sugar-loaf of the township
and now the ice-cream cone itself.

The white mini-skirt clung to her figure
like icing on a cake.

her breasts plunged ram-horns
in the hearts of men.

Her fried eggs broke a marriage contract
now Tito’s home is a village wound
that babbles with the gossip
and the bitter cries of a mother.

Tattered, the children’s bottoms
have taken the hue of ash-earth.

Sam, the little one
has a head the size of two footballs
his bones and ribs
cry for an enumerator.

MUSAEMURA ZIMUNYA

P.I. Poem of the week:
Musaemura Zimunya page:

2004-04-20T17:04:00.000-05:00

love on a rainy day

fogged windows wet floorboard
the red 67 mustang winds us

down flooding kentucky backroads
lincoln country heart of the world

redbuds dogwoods blooming
love on a rainy day

Ron Whitehead
april 13, 2004
kentucky

2004-04-20T17:03:00.000-05:00

COURAGE

The kitchen is a promontory. The pans are reefs eaten by a wolf-wind that blows and runs
in circles on the island. The railing is a grey gust, his mate our sharp sister. Just awaken
we are the birds bent over the sink, tired of the nightly migration, confused by the rockets
that pelt our dreams.

In the entire painting it is winter.
In the music on the radio hail tolls.
Its white vibrates on the antennas and the balcony.
With its compassionate cloud muzzle
dawn drives us to life.

ANTONELLA ANEDDA

Translated by Gabriele Poole

Poem of the week
Antonella Anedda page

2004-04-20T17:01:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Official Release:

4 (four) new Published in Heaven Audio CDs released today - April 7, 2004

THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE
produced by Ron Whitehead and Michael Pollock
Ron Whitehead and The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue (including Iceland's Michael Odin Pollock, Sarah Elizabeth, Andy Cook & others) is an eclectic blend of American Heartland Music (bluegrass, folk, jazz, blues, alternative) and Spoken Word that supercedes all borders geographically and ideologically.
The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue weaves a magical blend of song, spoken word, world musicality and affirmation with a down home sensibility encapusalating a truly Global message.
No music/spoken word group on the planet is doing what VHAR is doing!

12 Tracks: 1) Never Give Up, 2) I Will Not Bow Down, 3) The Dance, 4) Loa Loa Loa, 5) Lost and Found, 6) Desert, 7) The Apocalypse Rag, 8) Snake Bite,
9) Raven Hair & Turquoise, 10) Searching For Abraham Lincoln, 11) Great Spirit, 12) Long Journey Home

WORLD CITIZEN by Michael Pollock
produced by Ron Whitehead and Michael Pollock
Legendary Iceland musician, founder of The Outsiders, releases his first solo project in 22 years. The CD is an exciting amalgamation (punk, blues, rock, spiritual) of the musical styles which have influenced and inspired Michael all his life. WORLD CITIZEN also includes the first ever english translation of a song by Iceland's greatest living poet, Megas.

13 Tracks: 1) Great Spirit, 2) Loa Loa Loa, 3) Squeeze, 4) Youth, 5) Our Town,
6) Lost & Found, 7) Desert/Dream Vision, 8) World Citizen, 9) No Expectations,
10) It's a Shame, 11) 4U, 12) Dreaming, 13) Great Spirit Chorale

the shape of water by ron whitehead & james walck
produced by Ron Whitehead and James Walck
Ron Whitehead (Kentucky) combines poetry forces with brilliant composer musician James Walck and the Mind2hands Symphonia (Philadelphia, New Jersey, NYC). This CD is unlike anything Ron has ever done. It includes many of his zen meditation prayer poems accompanied by amazing musicians providing sounds from nature, middle east, jazz fusion, electrifying guitar, and beyond.

7 Tracks: 1) bell and drum - antigua, 2) plowed earth - back to tibet,
3) the string in my hand - trippytrain, 4) no more fingers pointing to the moon -
starless, 5) the shape of water - blood in the snow (tears in the rain),
6) as long as space endures - thoughtful, 7) listen - epiphany

SWAN BOATS @ FOUR, Paul K and Ron Whitehead
Produced by Paul K
Controversial genius composer songwriter musician Paul K joins forces with
bone man poet Ron Whitehead for a recording unlike any other. The CD is a force of Music and Nature. You have to hear it to believe it.

3 Tracks: 1) Crying All the Time Now/Soul to Keep, 2) I Will Not Bow Down/Wake Up One Day, 3) Swan Boats @ Four/Reality is Just Another Scam

all CDs are available in Kentucky at Ear Xtacy Records and on the web at
www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-04-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

Editorial:
APRIL 1, 2004
The hotel restaurant closed tonight
at 10 o’clock for lack of guests.
I watched the news at the bar and drank a beer.
Isn’t it Thursday? When everyone goes out?
These lines, taken from ‘September 2001’ by new German poet Uwe Kolbe (though it could equally well be titled ‘March 2004’) illustrate perfectly what is not only a major theme for Kolbe, but also for most other poets published on PIW this month: the political implications to be found in everyday life.
poetry international

Poem of the week:
FURIES

Poets of the quarter:
JORGE GAITÁN DURÁN
UWE KOLBE
ANTONELLA ANEDDA
SOPHIA DE MELLO BREYNER ANDRESEN
MUSAEMURA ZIMUNYA

Latest poetry news:
POETRY NEWSLOG APRIL
Pulitzer Prize poetry
Ted Walker, 1934-2004
US National Poetry Month
Griffin shortlist

2004-04-20T16:49:00.000-05:00

Issue # 7 of "Zygote in my Coffee" is now LIVE online!
You can check it out at: Zygote in my Coffee
Sound the trumpets & roll out the red carpet for the brand spanking new Zygote in my Coffee COMICS SECTION. We figured everyone's funny-bone could use a good tickling every once in a while. So in order to fill this need, we have assembled a kick-ass crew of cartoonists. All for the sake of your entertainment. I'd like to extend a very special "THANK YOU" to each & every cartoonist who contributed to Zygote in my Coffee. Their work is great & I'm proud as hell to have them aboard. So click on the COMICS link & prepare to be mesmerized by all the pretty little drawings with their dirty little punch lines. I guarantee you're gonna dig 'em!

Ever find yourself wondering what goes on in the daily life of a poet? Or maybe what dark, secret incidents might feed & fuel his/her muse? Or, like me, do you just get-off by peeking into other peoples' diaries & journals? If so, then we have just the thing for you! Immerse yourself in the misery & madness of a real life poet by clicking on "THE RAMBLINGS OF MS. RANDELL" located on the front page of Zygote in my Coffee.

What's in store for issue #7:

SPECIAL FEATURES:

POET OF THE MONTH: J. Watters

THE ART GALLERY: "Face it" by Donna Kuhn

POEM OF THE WEEK: "Watching A River Flow" by Charles P. Ries

ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE COMICS:

STOOPID PIGEON by Neveu & Sparks
STRANGE BREED by Steve Langille
GOFF: THE MEANINGLESS LIFE: by Darwinian Theory Design
HAM'S HALLUCINATION: by Johnny Hamm
JOSH COMICS: by Josh Sullivan
CRANIAL FLATULENCE: by Brian Fugett

ISSUE #7 (APRIL 5th, 2004):

PROSE by:
Doug Draime
Deborah Rothschild
Philip Hoffman
Christopher Woods
Rob Rosen
Dennis Vannatta
Matt Smith

POETRY by:
Dan Provost
Clint Newton
Brian F. Hartz
Charles P. Ries
John Sweet
Andrew Lundwall
Aryan Kaganof
Pushpa Tuladhar
Brian Rosenberger
Bradley Mason Hamlin
Rochelle Hope Mehr
Adrian Manning
Gary Charles Wilkens
J.J. Campbell
Glenn Cooper
Shane Allison
Nancy Allard
A.D. Winans
Karl Koweski
Owen Roberts
John Dorsey
Debbie Kirk
Christopher Major
Justin Barrett
J. Watters
Chris Waugh
Charles Nevsimal
Keith Berry
ames Quinton
Jacob McArthur Mooney
Sean Hogan
Jude Richards
t.k.splake
Rob Hill
John Birkbeck
R.C. Edrington
Christopher "Beef Burgundy" Robbins
Michael Dean Odin Pollock

Adios amigos. See ya' April 20th for Issue # 8. ~Brian Fugett & Allison Wentland (Editors)

2004-04-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

FURIES

Banished from sin and the sacred
Now they inhabit the humble intimacy
Of daily life. They are
The leaky faucet the late bus
The soup that boils over
The lost pen the vacuum that doesn’t vacuum
The taxi that doesn’t come the mislaid receipt
Shoving pushing waiting
Bureaucratic madness

Without shouting or staring
Without bristly serpent hair
With the meticulous hands of the day-to-day
They undo us

They’re the peculiar wonder of the modern world
Faceless and maskless
Nameless and breathless
The thousand-headed hydras of efficiency gone haywire

They no longer pursue desecrators and parricides
They prefer innocent victims
Who did nothing to provoke them
Thanks to them the day loses its smooth expanses
Its juice of ripe fruits
Its fragrance of flowers
Its high-sea passion
And time is transformed
Into toil and the rush
Against time

SOPHIA DE MELLO BREYNER

Translated by Richard Zenith

Poem of the week
Sophia de Mello Breyner page

2004-04-20T16:35:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,
COLUMN 104 of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated April 1, 2004, is now on the Internet and its index page can be accessed

SECTION ONE: NADER RUNS AGAINST BOY EMPEROR IN RACE TO BE THE 'MORE DESPICABLE'. Ralphy has his head up his ass.
Also embedded within SECTION ONE is an announcement that we will celebrate publication of BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES, VOLUME ONE OF THE BEST OF THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST with a giant multicultural jam session featuring that sizzling
Bengali Baul, Babukishan Das, master musician David Amram, saxophone virtuoso Hayes Greenfield and others yet to be named at the Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (212-614-0505), in New York at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 27.

SECTION TWO: WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS: BUSHIES TRIED TO 'PLANT' WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ. This is stuff you won't find in America's muzzled mainstream media.

SECTION THREE: ASHCROFT TRIED TO BRIBE HER! INTERPRETER REVEALS BUSHIES KNEW MORE THAN THEY SAID THEY DID PRIOR TO 9/11 ATTACK. More stuff you won't find in America's muzzled mainstream media.

SECTION FOUR: OUR DECEITFUL BOY EMPEROR HE WAGGED THE DOG, WE GOT A NEEDLESS WAR AND NOW HE'S WAGGING OBL.
Freelancer Margie Burns discusses the Osama manhunt.

SECTION FIVE: BRIAN WILSON'S 'SMILE'. Jules Siegel, one of the pioneers of rock journalism tells how he came to write about the Beach Boy leader.

SECTION SIX: FUEL RODS, 'LEAKS,' VOTE MACHINES, AND THE CIA. Paul Conant writes
about the whole mess created by the Bushies.

SECTION SEVEN: BOOK REVIEW:
PHIL STERN: A LIFE'S WORK. Lionel Rolfe reviews Phil Stern's book of photojournalism.

SECTION EIGHT: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE ONE BY BOB HOLMAN: DUSKUS INTERRUPTUS, 3 DeKoonings, and KULAFASO!
CELEBRATION FOR THE FEAST OF FEASTS!

SECTION EIGHT: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE TWO BY AMIRI BARAKA: THE INSIDIOUS DR. FU MAN CHU.

SECTION EIGHT: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE THREE BY JOHN SINCLAIR: #101 "bluehawk".

SECTION EIGHT: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE FOUR BY ROBERT KLEIN ENGLER: EPITHALAMIUM IN WINTER (A Long Poem).

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE ONE FROM KHUN WAYNE: SEXY PICTURE POSTCARD FROM ROCKY THAILAND.

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE TWO IS THIS A REPUBLICAN SPEAKING OUT AGAINST RALPHY?, DOWN WITH NADER!

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE THREE EMAIL FROM BEAR IN AUSTRALIA: 1. BUSH CAN WIN WITH RIGGED VOTING MACHINES; 2. JANET JACKSON'S TIT; 3. CRUCIFIXION IN TRUE ROMAN STYLE [Mel Gibson had it all wrong].

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE FOUR DR. JOHN'S FAMILY TRAGEDY, HE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT BIG DADDY NORD, FOUL PLAY, GEORGE HARRISON INTERVIEW, FROM DANIEL MCCARTHY AGAIN, IN SEARCH OF SUSIE ROTOLO, THE SCRAP BAR.

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE FIVE AARP NEEDS NEW INVENTORS!, JOHN ASHCROFT WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU READ, AMATEUR JOURNALISM OR AMATEUR EMAIL WRITING?, PAGING DONALD LEV, HAITRED, LEGISLATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION, INSULTING AMERICA.

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE SIX OUR GREAT NUYORICAN POET, EL REV. PEDRO JUAN PIETRI APONTE, 60, IS DEAD, THE TEXAS SWAGGER, CAN SOMEONE HELP DICK NICK?, ANOTHER PERSON NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT DEVON WILSON, BEAT HAPPENINGS, COLUMNISTS AS REPORTERS.

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE SEVEN FROM THE HILL TO THE VALLEY, LUNCH IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, WHAT POEM DID OLIVIA READ?, THE MUSIC BUSINESS!, RON WHITEHEAD WEDDING.

SECTION TEN: THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE website, THE PETER COYOTE website and the AMERICAN LEGENDS website and we add THE MCCLURE-MANZAREK website.

SECTION ELEVEN: THE MOVIE SECTION: THE RITZ FILMBILL. Synopses of foreign, independent and Hollywood movies.

SECTION TWELVE: THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; THE CELEBRITY CAFÉ, all about celebrities; the BABUKISHAN DAS BAUL website; and we add a new music magazine website, EAR CANDY.

SECTION THIRTEEN: THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers eleven pages of ads
from Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman; Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for Myself; Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Zoe Artemis invites you to literary retreat in Greece; and Richard Dettrey, who will help you with your shopping. A new addition is an ad for BABY ON THE WATER by Tsaurah Litzky.

Would you, too, like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars.

There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.
Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2004-04-20T16:19:00.000-05:00

Special Thanks to James Walck for Beautifull Updates on the website.
I hope all of You get a chance to check it out. especially the
new Audio, Video, and INSOMNIACATHON sections.
Thanks James! & Thanks to all of You for checking it out!
all blessings always
Ron Whitehead
spring 2004
kentucky

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-04-20T16:16:00.000-05:00

MANDELA'S SERMON

Blessed are the dehumanized
for they have nothing to lose
but their patience

False gods killed the poet in me. Now
I dig graves
with artistic precision

KEORAPETSE KGOSITSILE

Poem of the week
Keorapetse Kgositsile page

2004-04-20T16:12:00.000-05:00

Historic PENN'S STORE presents

KENTUCKY WRITERS DAY
A Celebration of the Written Word
Honoring Kentucky Writers

Sunday, April 25, 2004
Noon to 6pm
Bring your chair and join us

Penn's Store
257 Penn's Store Road
3 miles S.E. of Gravel Switch, Kentucky
859 332 7706 or 7715
PennsStore@aol.com
www.pennsstore.com (for map & more info)

Emcee - Terry Ward
Terry is Chair of the Humanities Division at St. Catharine College, Award winning writer, Historian, Free lance journalist.

Noon-12:30pm Registration for Writers and Open Mic.
Songwriter Glenn Metzger & Combo perform original music.

12:30-1pm Welcome, Announcements, Intro of writers and notables.
James Spragens - member of the Marion County High School English class that drafted the Kentucky Writers' Day bill.
David Hourigan - Former State Representative who introduced the bill to the Kentucky State Legislature.

1-1:30pm Frank X. Walker, Poet, Author, Vice-President of the Kentucky Center for The Arts, Executive Director of The Governor's School for The Arts, on tour debuting his latest volume, BUFFALO DANCE: The Journey of York, a book about the expedition of Lewis & Clark from the perspective of Clark's slave York.

1:30-2pm Lisa Williams - A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Assistant Professor of English, Centre College, currently a finalist for The Rome Prize in Literature, Williams has won numerous writing awards.

2-2:30pm Poets Supper, a Washington County based poetry group, members read with members statewide.

2:30-3pm Ron Whitehead, Award winning and internationally renowned poet and writer, scholar, professor, editor, publisher, organizer, founder and director of The Global Literary Renaissance.
Sarah Elizabeth, Recording and performing artist praised by Jean Ritchie, David Amram & others. She will be performing with Whitehead on a 2004 Tour of Europe, USA, and China.

3-4pm H.R. Stoneback - Poet, scholar, author, professor of English and director of graduate studies at State University of New York, New Platz.
Elizabeth Madox Roberts Society members, professors, writers, poets, scholars from New York, Massachusetts, California will read.

4-4:30pm Katherine Orton - Danville, Kentucky native, degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky, writes a regular column, "On the Lightside," for the Danville Advocate Messenger, playwright.

4:30-5pm Yolantha Harrison-Pace - Missionary to Haiti, perorming artist specialist, dance poet.

5-5:30pm Grass Roots Writers - Writers Group composed of members from Boyle, Garrard, Lincoln, Pulaski, Madison, and Fayette counties.

5:30-6pm or later Open Mic - For anyone wishing to share writings.

Books & CDs for Sale.
Food available.
Steve's Plants, Herbs, Flowers for sale.

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-03-24T17:54:00.000-06:00

Can Art Matter?

Jeremy Hogan's Blood Filled Vessels

by Ron Whitehead

The older I get the more I realize I don't know anything, no one does. We're all guessing, feeling our way, grappling for answers. But every day I have encounters with the spirit world. We are all in perpetual motion, in transition, even when we are still, silent, listening. Listening is the greatest art of all. Not-knowing is the fundamental plowed earth of our being, not-knowing. It is our life source. Embrace the wind. Embrace my heart. Born to die, there is no safety, all is demanded. Expose yourself completely. Accept the consequences of your successes, and your failures, as no other dare. Enlightened mind is not special, it is natural. Present yourself as you are, wise fool. Don't hesitate, embrace mystery paradox uncertainty. Have courage. Through fear, and boredom, have faith. Be compassion. Embrace the wind. Embrace your heart. Not-knowing is the fundamental plowed earth of our being. It is our life source. Not-knowing.

Can art matter? Who is Jeremy Hogan?

Today 'Specialization' is sold on every corner, fed in every home, brainwashed into every student, every young person. We are told that the only way to succeed, here at the beginning of the 21st Century is to put all our time, energy, learning, and focus into one area, one field, one specialty (math, science, computer technology, business). If we don't we will fail. We are subtly and forcefully, implicitly and explicitly, encouraged to deny the rest of who we are, our total self, selves, our holistic being. The postmodern brave new world seems to reside inside the computer via The Web with only faint peripheral recognition to the person, the individual (and by extension the real global community), the real human being operating the machine. The idea of and belief in specialization as the only path, only possibility, has sped up the fragmentation, the alienation which began to grow rapidly within the individual, radically reshaping culture, over a century ago with the birth of those Machiavellian revolutions in technology, industry, and war. And with the growing fracturing fragmentation and alienation comes the path - anger, fear, anxiety, angst, ennui, nihilism, depression, despiar - that, for the person of action, leads to suicide. Unless, through our paradoxical leap of creative faith we engage ourselves in the belief, which can become a life misssion that regardless of the consequences, we can, through our engagement, our actions, our loving life work, make the world a better, safer, friendlier place in which to live. Sound naive? What place does the Antinomian voice, the voice that, though trembling, speaks out against The Powers That Be, what place does this Visionary Outsider Voice have in the real violent world in which we are immersed? Are we too desensitized to the violence, to the fact that in the past Century alone we have murdered over 160 million people in one war after another, to even think it worthwhile to consider th e possibility of a less violent world? Are we too small, too insignificant to make any kind of difference? The power-mongers have control. What difference can one little individual life possibly make possibly matter?

Jeremy Hogan's photographs make a difference. They are blood filled vessels racing to the heart.

Today the X and microserf generations are swollen with young people yearning to express the creative energies buried in their hearts, seeping from every pore of their beings. They ache to change to heal the world. Is it still possible? Is it too late? Is there anyone (a group?) left to show the way to be an example? To be a guide? A mentor? James Joyce, King of Modernism, said the idea of the hero was nothing but a damn lie that the primary motivating forces are passion and compassion. As late as 1984 people were laughing at George Orwell. Today, as we finally move into an Orwellian culture of simulation life on the screen landscape, can we remember passion and compassion or has the postmodern ironic satyric deathinlifegame laugh killed both sperm and egg? Is there anywhere worth going from here? Is it any wonder that today's youth have adopted Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghe tti, Amiri Baraka, Robert Creeley, David Amram, Diane di Prima, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman, Bob Dylan, The Clash, Sonic Youth and all the other Beat Generation and related poets, writers, artists, musicians as their inspirational, life-affirming antinomian ancestors? These are people who have stood and still stand up against unreasoning power/right/might, looked that power in the eyes and said NO I don't agree with you and this is why. And they have spoken these words, not for money or for fame, but out of life's deepest convictions, out of the belief that we, each one of us, no matter our skin color our economic status our political relious sexual preferences, all of us have the right to live to dream as we choose rather than as some supposed higher moral authority prescribes for us.

Jeremy Hogan is an antinomian warrior. His passion and compassion are revealed through his documentary art.

Can art matter? Is it merely a gold exchange for the rich? The crucible of Jeremy Hogan's alchemical art blends the terrible beauty of the natural world with questions of global social conscience. His photographs defy categorization. He is an original.

What is involved in the process of artistic creation? And how is that process related to space and time? What makes it possible for a handful of Nabi, of Druidhs, to maneuver in a molecular universe, where immersion at will into things and being other than self is readily accomplished, rather than the dreary chore of drudging through the thick cellular world? The answers are simply complex and like truth, time and water they constantly slip through fingers away, away but the past recalled becomes present again and in a sense when we look anywhere including back into the past we are looking with some for of anticipation which is an attribute of future time so where are we really? How do how will writers, artists, musicians, inhabitors of the creative realms of the 21st Century respond to these questions? Some respond with ironic, comic faith, some with passion, with compassion, without which the intelligent sensitive creature will inevitably travers the Valle y of The Shadow of Death encountering Angst, Despair, Ennui, and possibly Suicide. The sensitive individual poet artist musician filmmaker prophet, the empath whose natural ability is negative capability, ineluctably chooses the life-game quest of self-creation in the possibly infinite probability of possible realities in the self-contained inter-connected Ocean of Consciousness.

So, where are you going? Please answer the question. Can art matter?

There are no answers, only questions.

My argument for The Ocean of Consciousness reaches back to the early experiential understanding of holy while reaching forward beyond the limits of dialectical gnosticism to an alchemy that also transcends divisions inherent in the alienation the fragmentation of Deep Modernism and the superficial chaos of postmodernism. I agree to a point with Turkle's argument that "The goal of healthy personality development is not to become a One, not become a unitary core, it's to have a flexible ability to negotiate the many - cycle through multiple identities." Having multiple identities, being legion, may lead to the apparent conclusion that we are walking on quicksand, that there is no solid ground that all is chaos. Even if you are a cryptanalyst and are able to turn into "plaintext the coded messages of Lacan but also the utterances of French existentialists, deconstructionists, poststructuralists, and all the other sibilant schools that flowed out of postwar Fran ce" (McCormick) what leads you to believe that the deadlyseriousegocentrichumor of postmodernism where theory is lauded as more important than text (whatever text might be: book, painting, song, life, etc) can possibly be the final word? Deconstructing a text does not designify does not make the text less than what it was before you playfully surgically took it apart and, if you're a good mechanic, put it back together again even if you gave it new features. No matter how much taking apart, deconstructing you do there will always remain something, a meaningful essence that cannot be destroyed.

Jeremy Hogan's passion compassion filled art matters.

The poet painter photographer prophet deconstructs realism. She employs the innovative technique of intercalation: the juxtaposition of scenes in time. She is Elus Cohen, Elect Priest of Expressionism, Cubism, Modernism, Dada, Surrealism, postmodernism but she is more. She is Master Alchemist, Master Magician. Her long slender hand reaches towards me, grabs my throat, and pulls me into the text, the book, the photo. Manger du Livre indeed! I not only consume the book, the photo: the photo consumes me. Now I, with her, am Elus Cohen juxtaposing scenes in time and space in her, in me, in Jeremy Hogan's Blood Filled Vessels Racing to The Heart. Being Blood Filled my original perception, awareness, and senses are fractured, fractalled, and exiting Jeremy's Blood Filled Heart photos I find I am rearranged. I now have new perspective, awareness, senses. I look at others. Are their expressions different as they look at me? I must look different. I feel different. I am different. Me. And me now. I,I. Ha. Aha! Now as my hand moves this pen across this page I change. I am transformed. I am never the same. My molecules jump, sway, swoon, dance across the page, giggling, laughing, singing, happy to be new! It's spring again! They shout Yes Yes Yes!!!

Mythopoet documentary photographer Jeremy Hogan is creating newly resonant myths.

Knowledge, from the inception of Modernism (& through postmodernism to The Ocean of Consciousness), is reorganized, redefined through literature, art, music, film. The genres are changing, the canons are exploding, as is culture. The mythopoetics, the privileged sense of sight, of modern, contemporary, avant-garde poets, musicians, artists, filmmakers are examples of art forms of a society, a culture, a civilization, a world, in which humanity lives, not securely in cities nor innocently in the country, but on the acocalyptic, simultaneous edge of a new realm of being and understanding. The mythopoet, female and male, returns to the role of prophet-seer by creating myths that resonate in the minds of readers, myths that speak with the authority of the ancient myths, myths that are gifts from the shadow.

Ron Whitehead
march 9, 2004
kentucky

copyright c Ron Whitehead 2004

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-03-24T17:53:00.000-06:00

TYRONE COTTON - brief bio - by Ron Whitehead

Singer, songwriter, guitarist Samuel Tyrone Cotton, born 1965, grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. His grandfather's rough, beautifully arresting singing grabbed the young Tyrone's full attention. His grandfather was a baptist preacher. He sang with a near illegal charm. He cast a spell. There was always music around. Tyrone's mother loved gospel and R&B. She loved to sing. Tyrone heard it all. His first concert experience was
BB King. His parents took him. King thrilled and captivated Tyrone with his playing his tale weaving.

At 13 Tyrone took up the guitar. It became the central focus of his life. By 15 he was playing in garage bands. He learned hot flashy licks, rock and blues with Jimi Hendrix muse of unrestrained fire. Tyrone began to realize that the music within him was making him feel emotions that he could share and communicate with others. Music became his vehicle of _expression.

After high school Tyrone studied classical guitar in college. He earned a B.A. in performance. During college he also started playing blues and folk blues in coffee shops and small venues. He began mixing blues with classical. He employed classical techniques such as right hand classical finger style. He played arpeggios of chords instead of strumming. He also began to sing. He developed a love for words and began to realize their power. The desire to play music, to sing, and to tell a story was born. He began to set poems to music. He loved Langston Hughes and blues and jazz poems. He loved to sing them against nylon strings and finger picking. He loved to sing them in a blues style. He bonded with the songs like they were old, even ancient, friends.

For Tyrone the blues was a point of departure. He mixed it with folk, rock, jazz, and pop. He explored. He assimilated the sights and sounds of his ever-expanding environment and made them his own. He found his voice. A new blues was born.

There is no other performer, no other sound or voice or style, in the world like Tyrone Cotton. He is an original. He performs his amalgamated blues, solo, on classical guitar. He also goes electric with a full band. He is comfortable with solo and ensemble performance. He improvises. He mixes melancholy with joyful laughter.

Tyrone has moved audiences in every size venue from New York University to the Kyoto International Folk Festival in Japan. He has toured Japan three times. He honed his skills in Japan. He has played across the USA. After opening for Rahn Burton, former pianist for jazz legend Rasahn Roland Kirk, Burton said "Tyrone can play his music anywhere in the world. It it were not true I would not say it." Beat legend Lawrence Ferlinghetti said "he's the best blues singer in the USA." Historian Douglas Brinkley was blown away by Tyrone's performance at an INSOMNIACATHON. He was astonished that Tyrone wasn't signed to a major label. Brinkley said "the world will know his work. He's one of our all time best." Legendary composer, musician, author David Amram has heard Tyrone perform several times. Time and again David has stated "He's amazing! He's one of our Best!" Legendary Iceland musician Michael Pollock, founding member of Utangardsmenn, voted Iceland's Best Rock G roup of the 20th Century, said "it's time the international community, the world has the chance to hear this man. I consider Tyrone Cotton to be right there with Son House, Big Bill Broonsey, Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowall, all the Greats. Yet Tyrone has his own unique style."

Tyrone Cotton has a playing style, a songwriting ability, and a voice that are captivating, one of a kind. He will stand the test of time.

Ron Whitehead, Director
The Global Literary Renaissance
Kentucky
spring 2004

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-03-24T17:50:00.000-06:00

Attention: Poets, Writers, and Photographers

A new Louisville literary magazine has been created called Churches, Banks and Bars. The second issue is open for submissions and will be out in stores around the beginning of April. The goal of the magazine is to promote complete _expression by exploring new grounds in poetic style, tone, form and perspective. It will be free and distributed monthly to local stores around Louisville. A major aim of the publication is to provide an outlet of _expression for all the talented writers in Louisville, as well as outsiders somehow connected in spirit, who go unnoticed and unpublished. Now there will be a printable medium that poets, writers and photographers of all styles can contribute. The magazine will include poetry, prose, short stories, and various other forms of writing. Copies of the first issue are available at Carmichael's and Twice Told book stores. For more information, contact Phillipzimbardo@aol.com or call 502-584-5599.

tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-03-24T17:46:00.000-06:00

hello everyone! ok. here's The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue core group for
6-week Not-Knowing Tour which includes stops in Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Colorado, New Mexico, California. more gigs being added.
others will join us for one or more events.
Sarah & I will carry the Tour on to China/Tibet/Mt.Everest from California.

Michael Pollock, Andy Cook, Sarah Elizabeth, Ron Whitehead.

that's it. looking forward to all of it!
any questions let me know. thanks!
all blessings
Ron

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-03-24T17:43:00.000-06:00

THE 50 LOVERS THAT LIVE IN MY BODY

the 50 lovers that live inside my body
go out nightly in search of another 50 lovers

just like 50 windows
each one concealed behind 50 pairs of eyes

50 different outcomes
each representing owners of 50 different colours

50 love-letters carried by 50 pigeons
permutated in the plazas of 50 modern city buildings

the wind disappears from my 50 dreams
leaving 50 nights, while my 50 passions
are asking:

why can there only be 50?

1997
CHEN KEHUA
Translated by Simon Patton

Poem of the week
Chen Kehua page

2004-03-24T17:40:00.000-06:00

From:Amnesty International
Reply-To:ai-news@amnesty.org
Subject: China: A moratorium on the death penalty is urgently required
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 03:28:01 -0800

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

AI INDEX: ASA 17/012/2004 22 March 2004

China: A moratorium on the death penalty is urgently required

The Chinese government routinely abuses national laws and international standards in the course of executing thousands of people each year, says a new report by Amnesty International. The report Executed "according to law"? – the death penalty in China comes a week after a senior Chinese legislator suggested China executes 10,000 people a year.
(View the full report online )

"In spite of positive developments in criminal procedure law, in practice the Chinese criminal justice system is in no condition to offer fair trials, impartiality, or justice. It is unacceptable that thousands more people will be executed this year by a dysfunctional criminal justice system", said the organization.

The miscarriages of justice cited in the report are just the tip of the iceberg. Given the potential for executing the innocent revealed by this report, it is incumbent upon the Chinese government to impose a moratorium on executions as a matter of urgency.

"This would be a first step towards the total abolition of the death penalty that the Chinese government has signalled to foreign diplomats is its ultimate goal," Amnesty International said.

The organization believes that given the potential for miscarriages of justice revealed by the report, a moratorium is urgently required. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases on the grounds that it is the ultimate cruel and inhumane treatment, and violates the right to life. The organization believes that execution in the absence of justice ranks among the ultimate failures of humanity.

Executed "according to law"? - the death penalty in China traces the ordeal that a person in China goes through from being suspected of committing a capital crime through to execution.

The report demonstrates the failures in China's criminal justice system by using cases researched by Amnesty International, and cases gathered from China's official media. These include:

- Chen Guoqing and three co-defendants accused of murder in 1996. They have now been re-tried and re-sentenced to death four times. They have so far successfully appealed three times, because the appeal court recognized that there was little valid evidence linking them to the crime, they had reliable alibis, and that their convictions were largely based upon confessions extorted through torture. They remain in prison awaiting a final verdict.

- Zhao Fenrong, a woman accused of murder in 1998 and sentenced to death at her trial and two subsequent re-trials, also on the basis of scant or fabricated evidence, and upon a confession extorted through torture. She is currently in prison on a suspended death sentence possibly awaiting a further appeal.

- Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist cleric who was given a suspended death sentence following a blatantly unfair trial and a summary appeal procedure which saw his co-defendant Lobsang Dhondup executed on the day the sentence was passed.

- Gong Shengliang, a Christian pastor who was subjected to a blatantly unfair trial and sentenced to death, only to have his sentence reduced to life on appeal. He remains in prison, and there are serious concerns for his health following allegations of repeated and sustained beatings in prison.

Executed "according to law"? - the death penalty in China includes specific recommendations to the government of the People's Republic of China for bringing its criminal justice system into line with international standards.

"China must implement the international treaties it is already party to - such as the Convention Against Torture - and it must do everything possible to ratify and implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as a matter of urgency," said Amnesty International.

Background

China applies the death sentence for the "most serious" crimes, which under Chinese law include corruption and numerous other non-violent crimes, despite an international standard which states the death penalty should be "a quite exceptional measure".

When detained on suspicion of committing a capital crime, no one has the absolute right to immediate legal counsel - it is usually only after a person has been interrogated by police that they can engage a lawyer. Even then, this right is often denied or interfered with in practice. However, it is often during the first interrogation that people are tortured and forced to 'confess' to the crime under investigation. Their 'confession' can then be used as evidence against them in court, and used towards sentencing them to death.

Additionally, contrary to international standards, there is no presumption of innocence in Chinese law. Political interference can intrude upon the judicial process at every stage of proceedings. China's notorious 'strike hard' campaigns put courts under extreme political pressure to pass speedily ever more and ever heavier sentences.

People's Republic of China: Executed "according to law"? The death penalty in China. Read the report

People's Republic of China: Appeal Cases CHEN GUOQING, YANG SHILIANG, HE GUOQIANG, ZHU YANQIANG

For more information on the death penalty in China please visit

View all documents on China

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You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
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2004-03-24T17:31:00.000-06:00

From: Kevin Ring
Subject: NEW BEAT SCENE/SATORI BOOKS SITE
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 15:24:07 -0000

I have a brand new site for my BEAT SCENE magazine and for SATORI BOOKS. Credit card facilities are in place.
It is a work in progress and will be filling up over the near future. Have a look.
BEAT SCENE magazine

Kevin Ring

2004-03-24T17:27:00.000-06:00

MAZE – YOU ARE HERE (1)

tracks, trips, rumble rimmed
in steel rails and grey, ties
continuous course of ballast
rolling and unwinding on curves
its rubbing, with muffled sound
and approaches, imminent to signal
switching, where steeled in
rails in steel branch off
traced grounded, a single stretch
in slow motion, the mechanical pull
runs out the rhythm and lower
slowly to its destination, screeches
at the town’s curtain, scenery
edges, sliding signals
that display, icons around
words, stamped archives
wherever, from an ordinary place
without any distinctions, except
waiting, at the stop announcing
moment, glimpses, that, unique
known name indicating the trip
when this way it ends and begins
produced from the distance
geographical space, exile
by graph, x-axis, position
placed on platform, arrival station

MICHÈLE MÉTAIL

Poem of the week
Michèle Métail page

2004-02-24T17:56:00.000-06:00

2004-02-22T17:12:00.000-06:00

2004-02-22T17:06:00.000-06:00

2004-02-05T18:23:00.000-06:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

COLUMN 102 of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated February 1, 2004 can
be accessed.
SECTION ONE: WHO WANTS TO RECORD FUSION MUSIC WITH A SIZZLING BENGALI BAUL? Sort of a help wanted ad.

SECTION TWO: RETROPOP SCENE: THE BENGALI BAULS AT BIG PINK. My liner notes for that album.

SECTION THREE: THE ART PAGE: TATTOO ART: MOUTHTRAP! Another spectacular bit of apparent body painting.

SECTION FOUR:
INTRODUCING THREE NEW WEBSITES TO OUR INDEX. You'll find them invaluable.
THE POETRY SECTION
SECTION FIVEPOETRY PAGE ONE
BY AMIRI BARAKA: PREFACE TO A TWENTY
VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE.

SECTION FIVE: THE POETRY SECTION POETRY PAGE TWO BY MICHAEL DEAN POLLOCK: NORTHERN KOAN/BOOK OF LIES.
SECTION FIVE: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE THREE BY TULI KUPFERBERG: SEPTUAGENARIAN IN
LOVE.
SECTION FIVE: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE FOUR : SCHMAIKU #11: HEADLESS RALPHY.
SECTION SIX: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE ONE
HELP SAVE OUR GREAT NUYORICAN POET, EL REV. PEDRO PIETRI! Three appeals for funds to help rescue Poetry's favorite Nuyorican wordsmith.
SECTION SEVEN: THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE website, THE PETER COYOTE website and the AMERICAN LEGENDS website.
SECTION EIGHT: THE MOVIE SECTION: THE RITZ FILMBILL. Synopses of foreign, independent and Hollywood movies.
SECTION NINE: THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; THE CELEBRITY CAFÉ, all about celebrities; and the BABUKISHAN DAS BAUL website.

SECTION TEN: THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers eleven pages of ads from Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman; Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for Myself; Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL; and Richard Dettrey, who will help you with your shopping. A new addition is an ad for BABY ON THE WATER by Tsaurah Litzky.

Would you, too, like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars.

There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.

Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2004-02-05T18:12:00.000-06:00

*****The latest from mundoblaineo.com.******

The site that would be a man, this man.
Mundoblaineo news, February 3, 2004

Well, dear friends, I have been beating the dead horse that is mundoblaineo, flirting with carpal tunnel syndrome with the sheer determination of ….um…a determined thing. (it is late and verbal niceties escape me.)
Since I suffer from an increasingly prevalent condition in today’s world, Digital Camera Picture Glut, most of these new links are photo galleries. Viz (love that, viz.)

3 NEW GALLERIES AND AN ORACLE

THRILL! to Tuxedomoon’s summer adventure, 2003.

My pix of us in PARIS! BRUSSELS! AMSTERDAM! In the recording studio! On a bus! At a table! No performance shots, though, I was busy performing and I don’t trust anyone else with my camera.
SEE! The enormous documentation of my time in cologne, performing “ten greatest rock songs in history” by Albrecht Hirche.
GASP! At the sheer esthetic brilliance of my recent photoshoppage. Art, my dear, art.
THE I CHING
Last, but not least by a long shot, I have realized an old dream of mine. I have managed to find and cobble together a functioning means of consulting the I Ching on a computer and reading the commentary from the Wilhelm translation of this ancient classic.

Since I discovered the I ching back in the 60’s, man, it has been a constant feature of my life. I have consulted the book of changes at every stage of my adult life, using coins, yarrow stalks and even cards. I have not always understood the results, but more often than not the I ching’s advice was frighteningly accurate and too damn honest.

If a list of droppable names is required for fellow devotees of the ching, try Carl Jung, Phillip K. Dick and John Cage on for size, bubba.
Enough o’ my yakkin’. Here’s thelink.

And that, as they say, is that.
Until next time, campers
Blaine

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we wipe it on our sleeve.
Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain.

2004-02-05T18:02:00.000-06:00

official Press Release for InKY Reading Series

Frank X Walker, Leatha Kenrick, Ron Whitehead & Sarah Elizabeth

Friday, February 13, 2004
7pm
the Rudyard Kipling
422 W. Oak Street, Louisville, Kentucky
usa

featuring music by
Bryan Hurst

plus readings by Winston Farrell (recipient of The Caribbean's top prize for literature), Troy Teegarden, Mark Rudolph, Pam Steele, Erin Keane, Amanda Johnston, Jude McPhereson, Andrew Coleman Wilson, Brenda Jones, Michele Rudy, K. Nicole Wilson

produced by First Harvest
Louisville, Kentucky
www.sensilla.com/inky
www.insomniacathon.org
www.tappingmyownphone.com

2004-02-05T17:59:00.000-06:00

Events Update (with nearly 50 shows in The Works we're adding continually so please stay tuned to website Events Section):

February 6: Ron Whitehead & The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue with Scaramongo at
Uncle Pleasant's
Louisville, Kentucky

February 13: Sarah Elizabeth & Ron featured with Frank X. Walker at
MFA @ Spalding University Music & Poetry Event at
The Rudyard Kipling
Louisville, Kentucky

March 5: Sarah & Ron with Tina Bayne at
The Coffee House
Carrollton, Kentucky

March 12-21: Sarah & Ron with Hilmar Orn Hilmarson, Michael & Marlon Pollock, and Megas at Thingvellir then
Sarah & Ron at Shakespeare & Co.in Paris
Reykjavik, Iceland
Paris, France

April 20: The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue with Dean McClain at
The Jungle
Evansville, Indiana

April 29: The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue with Elizabeth Jasper at
federal penitentiary
LaGrange, Kentucky

May 14-16: The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue featured at
The Talking Gourds Festival
Telluride, Colorado

May 19: Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue with Jordan Green at
The Oasis Cybercafe
Espanola, New Mexico

May 27-28 The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue with Dan Barth at
The Saturday Afternoon Club & City of 10,000 Buddhas
Ukiah, California

June 25: Sarah and Ron featured at Runcible Spoon Poetry Series
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana

September 16: Sarah & Ron open Arts Season at
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Hickory, North Carolina
www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-02-05T17:54:00.000-06:00

Subject: new world short order

*****The latest from mundoblaineo.com.******

The site that would be a man, this man.
Thursday January 22, 2004

Howdy. I neglected to tell youse about a rather amusing event that transpired the other day. Some bozoes of my acquaintance, musicians for whom I did a session came out here to bourgeois land Sunday to take me to a video shoot for their cd. They came in a beat up red car (important later). Also important to remember is that I decided to dress in my Matrix-influenced baddest drag for the occasion. I sported my long black leather overcoat, a pair of blue mirror shades, black turtleneck. Couldn’t have done better had I consulted “Osama’s Secret” terrorist wardrobe catalogue. We hadn’t travelled more than 500 meters down the road when a pair of newly-minted fascist cops from the olympic brigade decided this was our lucky day. Beat up red car in a posh neighborhood? Scowling mafioso in the back seat? It’s them, stavros! Oh, the arrogance. The leather lad in charge pulled us over by standing in the middle of the road and pointing his finger. You.

Perhaps I erred in not concealing my utter contempt for these morons better. I spoke no nasties but I have encountered scabrous mongrel dogs with open boils for whom I have had more respect. What began as a routine “control” of drivers’ license, car papers turned into a 3 hour funfest. We turned out pockets, stood still to be frisked, all of that. We then were escorted by these hell’s angels on wheels to the local cop shop. Me was fuming. Lot of good it did me. Seems that the pair who hauled our butts in were city boys. The barney fife brigade at the local station house were not allowed to use their computer. This meant that my dodgy looking american passport had to be faxed to central HQ on a Sunday when there was a football game on tv. My muso friend asked the desk jockey how long this might take the reply to which “Three to four hours” finally sent me flying off the handle. Oh well, another day in new world order ville. Is this a police atrocity on a par with the Rodney Ki
ng beating? I guess not. Major pain in the butt, though.

This is what the olympics bring to this town. Driving down the new freeway with its english road signs, stopping for a coke at the rest stop, plunking down my 2 euros for the toll, I realized that we are the absolute cutting edge american empire town. English spoken here. American franchise restos popping up everywhere. My friend Chris and I had burgers in a diner downtown that he first encountered in Oklahoma. “Appleby’s” He says there is absolutely no difference between the one here and the one there. Starting to look like los angeles more and more. All this and bands of thugs in leather speaking berlitz english lining every thoroughfare should make this THE town to avoid this summer. Sure hope I got somewhere better to go.

What the hell was I on about?

Oh yes, today I did a voice-over for a toyota commercial out in the afore-mentioned LA looking zone. I was the voice for a talking mirror.

Before I forget, here are some anagrams for "Blaine L. Reininger" included only for amusement.

Nina reel in gerbil
relearning in bile
I be relearning nil
Blair in Green Line
linin in lager beer
inner Liberian gel
Benin gel airliner
nill Nigerian beer
ne'er Nigerian bill
I an iller beginner
biennial lingerer
I enlarge bin liner
Ali green bin liner
nill brainier gene
I err enabling Nile
grill inner beanie
reline benign lair
e'er ill benign Iran
liar in benign leer

Love
guido
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we wipe it on our sleeve.
Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain.

2004-02-05T17:50:00.000-06:00

hope u appreciate
netatworkus
in peace
ciao,
--rinaldo

2004-02-05T17:48:00.000-06:00

American Guts
by John Rocco

My manners, abominable at times, can be sweet. As I grew older I became a drunk. Why? Because I like ecstasy of the mind.
I’m a Wretch.
But I love love. - Jack Kerouac, Satori in Paris

Ron Whitehead’s poetry reminds me of the way WWII vet and renegade American filmmaker Sam Fuller described Omaha Beach on D-Day: “Lined with the intestines of men.” Guts everywhere. And Fuller’s thoughts on depicting war on film is reminiscent of Whitehead’s poetic voice: Fuller believed the only way to authentically depict warfare would be to fire live ammo over the audience and maybe even wound someone. Whitehead’s words – on the page or as live salvo – have these sort of guts: two-fisted, hard-hitting, sans nonsense, and they often go right through you. His new collection, The Declaration of Independence This Time: Selected Poems 1996-2000 (Hozomeen Press), is a concentrated display of his arsenal of Beat Guts, Rock and Roll Swagger, and American Sweat.

1) Beat Guts. You have to be tough to write poetry in America. It is a tough place. The dark streets are crowded with something more than night. You have to be tough to write. Whitehead knows this and he’s proud of his filled-with-guts-lineage; this tough pride runs throughout all his writing and makes his poems essays on poetic theory, Beat tradition, and his hard-boiled American soul. Not hard-boiled in the sense that nothing can get in. Hi s guts are packed with it all: Kentucky, Kerouac, Joyce, Rock and Roll, Ferlinghetti, Elvis, injustice, justice, the Big Bang Epiphany, the pandemonium moon, rocking chairs, coal miners, toads. He tells us he “believes in non-violent fighting which creates new forms new voices.” He is a violent non-fighter in a series of Kentucky haikus:

In Kentucky
always
I go too far

Kentucky is his home base but he goes too far across the globe promoting the Beats (he’s the P.T. Barnum of the evolving Beat Celestial Circus he calls Insomniacathons), teaching the Beats (he writes about them, publishes books On them, and crosses the planet to talk about them), celebrating the Beats (he writes poems). Guts everywhere.

Whitehead talks hard-boiled American as he tackles despair in “Death on My Left Shoulder” or uses a kind of Beat Calculus to chart the ethereal in “The Shape of Water” or rewrites The Declaration of Independence and Yeats’s “The Second Coming” to struggle with the past for a new world. His fight against a brutal America of poverty and greed is combined with a genealogy of heroic American rebels in “Calling the Toads” The Antinomian Fire This Time,” a kind of Burroughs cut-up of Beat scholar John Tytell’s description Of the antinomian tradition and Whitehead’s exuberant riffing on it:
The antinomian legacy of Whitman, Pound, Miller, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Ferlinghetti, and so many other poets, writers, artists, musicians leads to our door and in this final moment having stood in the shadows for too long we step out and now we stand on the brink on the edge at the ending of time

Time was, Time is, Time will be no more
and it’s The Big Bang Epiphany
in the gap between thought and image
voices streams racing
whispering through our blood
pleading through our bones
strange activities of our nerves
the unconscious life of our minds
a tetrameter of iambs marching
shouting voices without restraint
alchemically transmutative symbol decipherment
the book as sacred elixir
manger du livre eat the book

Eat the Book and deny the straw men Thoreau saw living in quiet desperation.
Deny quiet desperation and embrace loud exuberance. Eat the Book and turn up the volume.

2) Rock and Roll Swagger. Anyone who has ever heard Whitehead read his poetry knows that he’s one of those rock and rollers, one of those 50s rockers combing back his slick hair and one of those 60s experimenters with surreality and one of those 70s punks pleasing Burroughs with their antinomian chants of BUGGER THE QUEEN. He’s a rock poet. Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and the blues are as influential upon Whitehead’s verse As Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman, James Joyce, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
But it is the same tradition. Rock is Whitehead’s America. Rock culture emerges out of Beat culture. Kerouac’s spontaneous bop prose was a declaration of fierce independence for the American writer. Rock became the battle music for the American revolution in consciousness. Corporate monsters may tap into the life force of rock but they can never suck out the Beat guts. Fiery baby-chewing Moloch, because his mind is pure machinery, doesn’t listen to the Grateful Dead (Neal Cassady was practically an honorary early member), the Doors (Ray Manzareck has said that without On the Road
"the Doors would never have existed”), Dylan, Tom Waits, the Velvet Underground, the Soft Machine, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, the Clash, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, the Beastie Boys, Nirvana, R.E.M., Ron Whitehead. Kerouac knew this when he wrote that “Beatles is spelled Beatles and not Beetles.” Dylan and the Clash knew it when they went on tour with Allen Ginsberg. Kurt Cobain knew it when he recorded “The Priest They Called Him” with Burroughs. Whitehead knows it throughout his words.

The music began in the tough, beat, lonesome American cry called the blues and Kerouac, high on words and drunk on jazz, gave it a subject matter. He gave it his life. Whitehead celebrates this in the music of his writing, his affirmative swagger in the face of guilt, decay, despair, suffering. In “Bell and Drum” he brashly solves Stephen Dedalus’s problem with a punch of American enthusiasm:

agenbite of inwit goodbye
remorse of conscience farewell
go beyond
go beyond
go beyond

This is the traveling advice in On the Road. This is the glow at the center Of all Kerouac’s work, especially in the dark confessions of Desolation Angels and Big Sur. Kerouac is still the most critically underrated, overlooked, neglected writer in American literature. And yet his work is everywhere in American culture. His books are just too tough to die. His gentle hard-boiled soul grows today in rock, in Hunter S. Thompson’s tough talk about the American Dream, in Whitehead’s poetry of guts.
His presence remains and reminds us: Tough poets are the unacknowledged explorers of the guts of the world.

3) American Sweat. In 1961, Kerouac described On the Road in a letter:
Dean and I were embarked on a tremendous journey through post-Whitman America to FIND that America and to FIND the inherent goodness in American man. American Man and Child…
It was really a story about 2 Catholic buddies roaming the country in search of God. And we found him. I found him in the sky, in Market Street San Francisco (those 2 visions), and Dean had God sweating out of his forehead all the way. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OUT FOR THE HOLYMAN: HE MUST SWEAT FOR GOD (Kerouac’s emphasis).

It is tough to be a writer in America. You have to be tough to write, to survive, to roam, to live. You have to sweat. It takes a monster reincarnation of Horatio Alger to save the world. Whitehead is in the ring, pounding away at the flab of the universe, punching his way out, sweating poems. He is a non-violent fighter looking for a fight. Whitehead sweats for God and the Beats in post-Whitman, post-Kerouac America.

Dr. John Rocco teaches English and Humanities at State University of New York Maritime. His published books include Dead Reckonings: The Life and Times of The Grateful Dead, The Nirvana Companion, The Doors Companion, The Frank Zappa Companion, The Beastie Boys Companion, all for Schirmer Books. He co-edited Another E.E. Cummings for W.W. Norton and Co. A James Joyce scholar, he has published many academic articles on modern literature, music, and film.
A freelance rock journalist he has contributed to a variety of publications from High Times to The Stranger. He also reviews books for American Book Review.
He lives in New York City.

2004-02-05T17:29:00.000-06:00

HONEYSUCKLE VINE
Sarah Elizabeth
Published in Heaven Audio

review by Paul Kopasz
LEO
www.leoweekly.com
january 14, 2004

The dulcet tones of singer/stringplucker Elizabeth are so high and lonesome on this recording that it's a wonder anyone besides dogs can hear the vocals. Seriously, Elizabeth has a fine way with a country folk tune and good instincts about choosing material. She also has an impossibly airy high soprano that has to be heard to be believed. Comparisons to Emmylou Harris (at her youngest) are not out of line.

There are no songwriting credits listed here, so one may assume that these are all covers, although only a few tracks have recognizable titles. Among these are "Hide Me Rock of Ages" and "Fraulein." The first song out of the gate is a very strong reel called "Rural Route Girl," with an absolutely wicked fiddle part by...whom? The credits give no clue. The other songs are either standards of Appalachian song with which I am unfamiliar, or original compositions for which Elizabeth is too modest to take credit. The lyrics throughout the record give little assistance; the lines are timeless and could have been written (or orally transmitted) 100 years ago or last week. I suppose in some ways the writing credits are unimportant given that each song here is a delicate little gem; the writer part of me still wants to know, the listener part of me doesn't care.

The backing is minimal. The production, by acclaimed singer-songwriter Kiya Heartwood, is distinctly digital. The recording is by no means "warm," but this does not seem to be a drawback. Rather, the cold crispness of the recording underscores the music's similarity to a mountain stream; just as icy and just as crystal clear.
Paul Kopasz

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-02-05T17:25:00.000-06:00

announcing the release of

Sarah Elizabeth's new HONEYSUCKLE VINE CD

HONEYSUCKLE VINE
Sarah Elizabeth

a Published in Heaven Audio release
$15.00
presently available at www.tappingmyownphone.com
and Ear Xtacy Records

"A song don't just spring outer nowhere, ye know,
hit'll grow in yer mind like a honeysuckle vine
just a-wrappin itself around all the times and all the
people and places that is yer life."
from THE DEVIL'S DREAM by Lee Smith

1. Rural Route Girl, lyrics and music written by Sarah Elizabeth (BMI)
2. Black Is The Color, traditional
3. Fraulein, traditional, add. lyrics and music written by Sarah Elizabeth
4. Pass Me Not, words by Fanny J. Crosby 1868, music written by Sarah Elizabeth
5. Hide Me Rock of Ages, traditional spiritual
6. Sweet Hour of Prayer, words by William Walford 1845, music by William B. Bradbury 1861
7. A Hundred and Ten In The Shade, written by John Fogerty, add. lyrics written by Sarah Elizabeth. Used by permission.
8. Goin Down That Road Feelin Bad, traditional, add. lyrics written by Sarah Elizabeth
9. High On A Mountain, traditional
bonus track
10. Pickin' Time, traditional melody, lyrics and music written by Sarah Elizabeth

All songs arranged by Sarah Elizabeth (BMI) copyright c 2003
Sarah Elizabeth - vocals, guitar, piano, french horn
Larry Beasley - banjo, mandolin, guitar
Karen Jones - fiddle
Miriam Davidson - accordion
cover photo by Terry Gardner
recorded at Terrakin Farm, Stamping Ground, Kentucky
engineered and mixed by Kiya Heartwood
finishing by James Walck

"America's precious roots music, in all its variety, has inspired people from around The World. Now we have a young ambassador for the timeless treasures of the rural Southern styles from the mountains of Kentucky. Rather than being an anthropologist with a magnifying glass, tape recorder and a bottle of Formaldehyde to incarcerate the music, Sarah Elizabeth is a mesmerizing young performer with a gorgeous voice who comes from the places she sings about. She is a natural, and just what the music world needs, a fresh pure unjaded voice in the Wilderness."
David Amram, composer, musician, writer, New York, USA

"...(Sarah) Elizabeth, who plucks and strums banjos and acoustic guitars, tends to favor starkly minimal arrangements, quite often foregoing accompaniment entirely...The unifying factor here is an overarching melancholy...It doesn't hurt that (Sarah) Elizabeth has a voice like a young Emmylou Harris."
Paul K, songwriter, musician, reviewer, LEO, Kentucky, USA

"KENTUCKY, by Sarah Elizabeth and Ron Whitehead, is a stunning CD. Sarah and Ron both did a beautiful job...What a lovely and lively lady Sarah Elizabeth is! I'm sure she is going to accomplish much in her lifetime."
Jean Ritchie, renowned Appalachian musician, songwriter, folklorist, USA

"Sarah Elizabeth's sweet soulful deep charcoal smoked honey bee voice weaves circles around, intertwines, breathes new life. Her singing is a godgiven gift."
Michael Pollock, musician, songwriter, Reykjavik, Iceland

"Sarah Elizabeth is amazing. God, what a voice! She is the real deal! Amazing!"
Mark Reese, filmmaker, screenwriter, Los Angeles, California, USA

"Sarah Elizabeth has the truly inspirational voice of an angel."
Alex Cleckner, Durham, England

also available
KENTUCKY: poems, stories, songs
Sarah Elizabeth & Ron Whitehead

to order
make checks payable to Sarah Elizabeth
$15.00 per CD plus $4.00 shipping (per order)
and send to
Sarah Elizabeth
p.o.box 4602
Louisville, Kentucky
40204

sarahpublishedinheaven@yahoo.com

www.tappingmyownphone.com

2004-02-05T17:19:00.000-06:00

THE PIPES OF PAN FESTIVAL AT JAJOUKA

Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka invite you to be a guest at the beginning of a new Jajoukan tradition - The Pipes of Pan Festival at Jajouka. This festival in Jajouka will be open to people from around the world who wish to experience the Master Musicians of Jajouka perform their healing music in its natural setting. At this festival the “perfume makers” (as the surname Attar translates) will share the breath of Allah, bestowed to them through Sidi Ahmed Sheikh.

The Pipes of Pan Festival will honor and celebrate the ‘Baraka’ or ‘Blessing’ of Sidi Ahmed Sheikh, the Islamic Saint who brought Islam to the region surrounding Jajouka. Sidi Ahmed Sheikh bestowed upon the Master Musicians the ability to heal sickness and mental illnesses with their music, and in turn was given the gift of the Masters’ music. He is now buried in Jajouka and his sacred tomb is cared for by the holy man or ‘mqaddem’ of the Attar family.

The festival will take place in Jajouka Friday April 23rd & Saturday the 24th, 2004. It will be a time of feasting, dancing, healing and unity. The Master Musicians will perform their ancient music under the moonlit Moroccan sky as they have for centuries. Bou Jeloud, the Father of Skins, will dance you into a frenzied trance, and you will have the unique opportunity to see the Women Musicians of Jajouka in a rare public performance.

Please keep in mind that this is not a Western style music festival. The Master Musicians will be welcoming you into their small village, a place unadulterated by mass culture. This is where the musicians live and work. This is where their children play and wander through the village along with the goats and sheep. Jajouka is a beautiful and special place, a place where music heals, and a place which must be treated with the utmost respect. You will be expected to make a donation to the Musicians of at least $100 per day you are in Jajouka. This will pay for your food and help them provide you with their best hospitality. There will be no recording devices allowed at the festival as such things tend to interfere with your own and others spiritual experiences of the music. Feel free to bring a camera on your trip, but once you enter Jajouka leave it and any other recording devices behind. This will not be an experience you will need photos or tapes of to remember!

There is room in the village for you to stay if you wish to camp. Jajouka cannot provide electricity or running water and there are no guest rooms. This means you will need to bring a tent, sleeping bag and all the essentials. If you prefer something a bit more comfortable with the usual amenities, we recommend staying in Ksar El Kebir at the Hotel Al Yamama. From there you can easily take a short cab ride (@ 20 minutes) into the mountains to Jajouka.

If you have questions about travel, customs, or any other information please visit the new Jajouka message boards at www.jajouka.com. This will be a place where you can share your stories of Jajouka, discuss their music, Morocco, and interact with other friends of the Master Musicians.

If you are coming to Jajouka, you must RSVP with David Meinert by emailing david@fuzedmusic.com no later than April 2.
We hope to see you in Jajouka!
David & Bachir

2004-02-05T17:13:00.000-06:00

hello everyone!
here's The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue West Coast Ghost Dance Tour
working itinerary.
if you want to set up an event in your town/city/nature then let me know. Kent Fielding is setting up the 14-day Alaska leg of the tour.
except for Telluride Colorado & IU the dates are flexible but we're solidifying all dates
and venues now. as many of you know the primary focus of the tour is to produce
documentary/DVD showing connections tween poetry/story/song/nature. at least
half of the performances will be in nature. the others will be on the streets of cities
or in clubs etc. with our present most dangerous government ever dismantling
personal freedoms & destroying nature it is more important than ever to speak out
to help heal the earth & ourselves. the message in "I Will Not Bow Down" will be
central theme of the tour. because so many performances will be in nature we're
doing an acoustic tour. we can plug in for indoor shows but all instruments will
be acoustic.

May 8 = Mammoth Cave (womb of Mother Earth), Bowling Green Kentucky
May 9 = Bill Monroe front porch (boyhood home recently restored), Rosine Kentucky
May 11-12 = Wounded Knee, South Dakota
May 13 = road in front of Hunter S. Thompson's home, Woody Creek Colorado
May 13 = Independence Pass Colorado
May 14-16 = Telluride Colorado Festival
May 17-18 = Lawrence Tree, Taos New Mexico plus Jordan's town in New Mexico
May 19 = Canyon de Chelley Arizona
May 20 = Grand Canyon Arizona
May 21 = Death Valley California
May 22 = Sequoia National Forest California
May 23 = Los Angeles
May 24 = Big Sur
May 25 = sidewalk in front of City Lights, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge,
San Francisco California
May 27 = City of 10,000 Buddhas, Ukiah California
May 29 = Redwoods, Eureka California
May 30 = Powells Bookstore, Mount Hood, Portland & Oregon
June 1 = Mount Ranier, Seattle Washington
June 3 = Vancouver British Columbia
June 4-20= Juneau, Sitka & other, Alaska
June 23 = Denver Colorado
June 30 = Natural Bridge Kentucky

let me hear from ALL of you!
Thanks!
All Blessings Always
Ron

www.tappingmyownphone.com

2004-02-05T17:12:00.000-06:00

Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6th at THE HOOK...IN REDHOOK,
BROOKLYN..18 Commerce Street btween Richards and
Columbia...,KID CONGO AND THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS
MR. AIRPLANE
THE KONKS %10
for directions go to www.thehookmusic.com

REMEMBER.. Kid Congo Powers."Solo Cholo" on Broadway
Jungle records is due out Frb 23!!!...
www.kidcongopowers.com
www.broadwayjungle.com

2004-01-01T17:20:00.000-06:00

urbi et orbi pope guido speaks

*****The latest from mundoblaineo.com.******

The site that would be a man, this man.

Oh, my friends, it grieves me. It grieves me so. Here some…3? 2? MONTHS! Have passed without a mundoblaineo update from me. Not to mention that the site itself languishes in neglect, covered with pixellated dust, reeking of cybernetic mildew. I beat my breast in remorse. I wail. I gnash my teeth.

Not only that, but the year is turning! 2003 becomes 2004 tonight and what will you do about it? What CAN you do about it? More on this later.

What, you may ask, has old Blaine been up to all this time!??
First off, the play in which I played, strutted and fretted many hours upon the stage has come to a merciful conclusion. This was a tough one, folks. “Danton’s Death” faded off into theatrical history on the 2nd of December.

I should tell you that we had to interrupt play one memorable night for a bomb scare. Yes, folks, someone took the trouble of calling the Athens police to tell them that they had planted a bomb in the Theatro Amore. Just as I was getting ready to put down my baglama, rush backstage and change into my queen Victoria ballgown for the drag scene, the stage manager came in and turned on the lights. “we must evacuate the theatre” of words to that effect. We trooped out onto the sidewalk, some of us still in costume and makeup, others smarter, in street clothes, watched the audience fade into the night, waited as the police sent bomb-sniffing dogs into the theatre and then we buggered off home.

This was shortly after we had our power failure. A scant two nights before the bomb threat we played the thing out by battery-powered emergency lighting. It went fairly well until the last bit where we sang a Beethoven song “Rasch Tritt der Tod”. Without the digital piano to guide us four act-ores we had no idea where the tonal center lay. No, not even I. it sounded like the Schoenberg version. Or maybe 4 guys listening to walkmans singing along to 4 different songs.

During the run of danton, the intrepid Peter Principle and Marc Hollander came down here to Athens to work on the mix of the new Tuxedomoon CD. The title of this remains a state secret. We had some halcyon sessions in a pleasant little studio near the local river. We would take a break from our intense labors to chow down on some magnificent Cretan food. Truly marvy, gang.

Of course, much has been seen, said, felt, consumed, stapled and mutilated which will never find its way into these letters. That is as it should be. Suffice to say that 2003 was, by and large, a pretty good year for me. I have been working like 10,000 dogs (to quote a dear friend of mine) and that is marvelous. what joy to feel the jingle of change in my jeans! i've heard of that...money.

Let us try to forget for a while the march of the fascist morons intent on screwing up a perfectly good world with lots of fun things to do. Hell with ‘em. We can only wish that george bush and his brown shirted thugs and their cousins on the other side of the holy war would just zap off to hell in a foul-smelling cloud. No such luck. We have to endure their presence. No question about their reception in hell. George W. Bush has a private room already booked. The world situation is pretty scary,though. I hate to admit that I am more concerned about my mp3 collection. I guess when the new world orderlies come to the door to machine gun my old bones I will become politically engaged. It will be too late, though.

But serially, folk. we surely don't have to wait for the worm to turn to live like free-thinking people. We can make every effort to do so now. and...um... I forget. What's on tv, George?

I will close. I wish each and every one of you, my precious little love bundles, a simply scrumptious 2004.

Ta ta for now

Blaine

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we wipe it on our sleeve.
Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain.

2004-01-01T17:13:00.000-06:00

"KENTUCKY, by Sarah Elizabeth and Ron Whitehead, is a stunning CD.
Sarah and Ron both did a beautiful job." - Jean Ritchie

BORDERS
4600 Shelbyville Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40207
usa
502-893-0133

announcing CD release signing and performance

Sarah Elizabeth & Ron Whitehead
Celebrate their new CD 'KENTUCKY' poems, stories, songs
Thursday, January 8, 2004
7pm
no cover

All instruments played by Sarah Elizabeth. All songs arranged by Sarah Elizabeth. All poems and stories by Ron Whitehead from his award-winning BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON. For more information on these artists, visit www.tappingmyownphone.com.

advance copies of Sarah Elizabeth's new HONEYSUCKLE VINE CD will also be available.
Can't be there? Call the hosting store (502-893-0133) to reserve signed copies.

www.insomniacathon.org

2004-01-01T17:06:00.000-06:00

Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues,

With the clock ticking and all of us about to ring out the old and ring in the new for 2004, I'm pleased to have found the time to get some VidClips of Ron and The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue at Bob Holman's Bowery Poetry Club onto TMOP.com for your NYE revelry.

Since these Vids are so new, just click on the addresses below in this e-mail to get to the last licks for 03'.
"Didgeree-Hoo" Andy Cook tops off a great gig with a rip-roarer on the didgereedoo, AMAZING!
"High On A Mountaintop" Sarah Elizabeth goes a capella with this one on her 1st visit to NYC and 1st performance at the BPC.
"Lost and Found" Michael Dean Odin Pollock and fellow VHAR members Sarah Elizabeth, Andy Cook and Dave Amram do a track from Michael's latest CD "World Citizen."
"The Shape Of Water" Ron and myself perform the title track from our latest CD with special guest Dave Amram on wood flute.
If you haven't been to the new Photo Albums at TMOP.com you can see photos from the BPC (Campbellsville and Post Insom House Party) at "KYtoNYC."
Need to seeInsomniacathon2003 pix?

2004 has much in store, the upcoming Ghost Dance Tour, Spring 04' takes Ron and The VHAR West.
The focus of this acoustic tour is the connection between poetry/story/song and nature, these performances are an exclaimation for us all to do what we can to heal the Earth and to heal ourselves.
Cameras will be rolling for this tour and the footage is slated for a docu-DVD towards the end of 04'.
What else?
Well we'll all see what the road presents to us as we cross over into 2004!
With that thought in mind, I wish you all a very happy, peaceful and blessed New Year!

Peace all around,

Jim Walck

Director, e-Media
www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-01-01T16:46:00.000-06:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

Best wishes for 2004!

COLUMN 101 ofTHE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated January 1, 2004 can be accessed by clicking on
SECTION ONE: THE 'NAKED' BEATLES CD: IS SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY GETTING A BUM RAP? . In the end, it was a good business move. Beatles fans now will have to own both versions.
SECTION TWO: WOLF TAKES OFF SHEEPSKIN : AARP IS JUST A BIG CON! American Association of Retired People doesn't represent interests of seniors. AARP is an insurance company.
SECTION THREE: RETROPOP SCENE: THE '60s: A MINISKIRT FOR MEN, THE BEATLES, THE MONKEES & BOB DYLAN LOSES ANOTHER SONG. Glimpses backstage at the '60s Rock Revolution.
SECTION FOUR: THE GREAT BARRYMORE. Our queen of erotic fiction, Tsaurah Litzky, tells another hilarious tale. WARNING: PERSONS NOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE!
SECTION FIVE: SINS OF SEPTEMBER 11 Bill Pitt gives more evidence that we've got a wrong number as president.
SECTION SIX: U.S. NEEDS SANER LEADER. Another opinion that we've got a wrong number as president comes from Professor Leon Wofsy.
SECTION SEVEN:THE ART PAGE: TATTOO ART: SPREAD THOSE WINGS! A creature that flies lurks between a woman's legs.

SECTION EIGHT: THE POETRY SECTION:
POETRY PAGE ONE: DANZA DE LOS ELEMENTOS or DANCE OF THE ELEMENTS. Colombia's imaginative Raúl Henao contributes more of his innovative poetry from his book, La vida a la carta.
POETRY PAGE TWO: HOLDING ON; A READING FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION and WISHFUL THINKING ON MY PART: NEW YEAR'S EVE are three "seasonal" poems from Chicago's Robert Klein Engler
POETRY PAGE THREE: SCHMAIKU #8: PENNIES; SCHMAIKU #9: LOVED ONES; and SCHMAIKU #10: SOUTHERN BAPTIST'S CREDO. Al Aronowitz says he is a journalist, not a poet. "Haikus, schmaikus," he says. "What's the difference?"
POETRY PAGE FOUR: PARIS HILTON. Mike Farahay celebrates her lust.

SECTION NINE: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE ONE: FROM A MUSIC FAN IN ITALY, Maurizio Nieri: EYEWITNESS TO TREASON, Dawn Marcelle; A JOKE, That's our Dubya!, Venire; ANOTHER JOKE, Decent Bush Joke, Paul McDonald; WHO SHOULD JOYCE WRITE ABOUT?, Joyce Somerville; JACK
MICHELINE STREET, A.D. Winans.
EMAIL PAGE TWO: FROM RUSSIA, WITH THANKS, Andrei Shapov; WE'D OFFER HER THE JOB AS A POP MUSIC CRITIC OF THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, EXCEPT WE CAN'T AFFORD A PAYROLL, Intrigued, Alexandra Connolly; BEAR THINKS THE GROPER WILL BE A GOOD GUV EVEN THOUGH HE PRONOUNCES CALIFORNIA WITH A NAZI ACCENT.
EMAIL PAGE THREE: CAN YOU TRUST YOUR VOTING MACHINE? Steve Schwartz; KEITH RICHARDS ABOUT MICK JAGGER'S KNIGHTHOOD: 'I'D TELL THEM WHERE THEY COULD PUT IT.'
EMAIL PAGE FOUR: 51 REASONS TO VOTE GEORGE W. BUSH OUT OF OFFICE, Steve Schwartz.
EMAIL PAGE FIVE: BY PAUL KRUGMAN AARP IS AN INSURANCE COMPANY, New York Times Op-Ed Columnist, AARP Gone Astray.
EMAIL PAGE SIX: From PORTSIDE, A RUDE AWAKENING FOR THE GREEN PARTY.
EMAIL PAGE SEVEN: PORTSIDE, BY MOLLY IVINS, 1. MOLLY IVINS BACKS DEAN, Molly Ivins Picks Her Candidate; 2. WE THE PEOPLE GET SCREWED AGAIN, Two Horrible Bills!
EMAIL PAGE EIGHT: PORTSIDE BRIEFS, BUSH TAKES US BACK TO MCKINLEYISM, WHEN THE ROBBER BARONS STOLE AMERICA; HOW BUSHIES ROB TAXPAYERS; CALIFORNIA GETS PAPER TRAIL OF E-VOTE BALLOTS; BUSH GETS A BIGGER TOY; 'UP YOURS!' SAYS POET TO ROYAL HONOR.
EMAIL PAGE NINE: PORTSIDE BRIEFS: MUSICIANS MOBILIZE AGAINST BUSH, Rockers Unite to Oust Bush: IS U.S. ARMY BECOMING 'ARMY OF ONE?' Army Reserve battling an exodus---War is seen as drain on ranks; U.S. EXPORTS TOYS FOR TORTURE, Amnesty International.
SECTION NINE, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.
SECTION TEN, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAFÉ, all about celebrities.
SECTION ELEVEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers eleven pages of ads from Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman; Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for Myself; Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL; and Richard Dettrey, who will help you with your shopping. A new addition is an ad for BABY ON THE WATER by Tsaurah Litzky.

Would you, too, like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars.
There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.

Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2004-01-01T16:12:00.000-06:00

From Italy to Kentucky & Beyond - Annalisa interviews Ron Whitehead

December 2003

Annalisa: what do you think about american literature today?
Ron: the best literature in amerika today is coming from the Spoken Word scene. the Academic scene is boring, suburban, castrated, lifeless, cerebral, little Life Force.
Annalisa: which is your way to conceive literature in general?
Ron: the poet prophet (i.e. literature) deconstructs realism. she employs the innovative technique of intercalation: the juxtaposition of scenes in time. she is elus cohen, elect priest of expressionism, cubism, modernism, dada, surrealism, postmodernism but she is more. she is master alchemist, master magician. her long slender hand reaches towards me, grabs my throat, and pulls me into the book. manger du livre! I not only consume the book: the book consumes me.
Annalisa: do you think young generations are sensible to literature today?
Ron: yes. the most exciting global literary renaissance is occuring today with Spoken Word Poetry. my friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti told me City Lights Books, San Francisco, is selling more volumes of poetry than ever.
Annalisa: which are your favorite writers and why?
Ron: my favorite poet is William Butler Yeats, followed by William Blake. there are many others whose work I drink daily. my favorite novelist is Knut Hamsun. there are many others whose work I drink daily. my favorite painter is Edvard Munch. there are many others whose work I drink daily. "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is my favorite poem. HUNGER is my favorite novel. THE SCREAM is my favorite painting. THE SCREAM is the painting that best represents the human condition since Munch painted it in 1893. In the past 100 years we have murdered over 160 million people in one war after another. T. S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" is the poem that best represents the human condition in the first half of the 20th Century. Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" holds that position for the second half of the 20th Century. Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD, 1957, opened a door of consciousness. Hunter S. Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING, 1971, closed that door. both are two of the most important book s of amerikan literature.
Annalisa: do you think to belong to any literary movement? which one? why?
Ron: I founded the Global Literary Renaissance with the goal of breaking down walls, of bringing people from round the world together. the pie, apple, is not limited, it is limitless. I want to work with everyone, even academics, suburbanites, ugh.
Annalisa: can you define which kind of poetry is yours?
Ron: I follow the muse. I have had several thousand pieces published in a diverse range of publications round the world. I write formal informal serious humorous political, love, zen, meditation, sex, kentucky poems. whatever I am inspired to write. one of my goals in life is to break down as many walls and doors as possible. climb every mountain. forge every stream. trite and true.
Annalisa: which are the main themes of your poems?
Ron: the themes are as diverse as the poems. fearless compassionate honesty, non-violent fighting against injustice, life as it is, no disneyfication, terrible beauty.
Annalisa: what does it mean for you to be a writer?
Ron: everything! being a poet is an innate drive that seizes a human being and makes her or him its instrument. the poet is not simply a person acting freely, in pursuit of a merley private end, but one who allows poetry/art to realize its purposes through her or his person. poets/artists/writers/filmmakers have moods, free will, personal aims, but as poets they are bearers of a collective humanity, carrying and shaping the common unconscious life of the species. if history is the embodiment of "fear, reason, social convention, and tradition" then it becomes the duty, the responsibility, the compelling creative urge of the nabi, the prophet, the poet to crack history's encrusted, iconostasic, shell releasing the dying and dead by invocation of The Word, inspired thought energy into meaning full sound. the prophet becomes poet, which in greek means creator, and as poet, whose home is in shadow in the holy unholy realms of The Creative Imagination, as the synaptic link between spirit and matter, creates a new world.
Annalisa: we are talking about literature but how important is music for you in a literary work and why?
Ron: Vico suggests that "the human mind does not understand anything of which it has had no previous impression from the senses." sensory meditations experiences move the poet prophet to another level of translation. movement through space creates time a stride at a time, now. awareness of being in space involves the sensory act of seeing, the "ineluctable modality of the visible" (Joyce). movement creates time and initiates hearing. i am space, moving, step by step, creating time. i am. i create myself and all that i experience, every moment as i move through my self-created space creating time. space and time. static and kinetic. movement through space creates time. magic and instinct shape movement into rhythm. rhythm measures time. movement/rhythm is active, action, kinetic, causality. movement may be monotonous buy rhythmic movement is creative. rhythm breathes energy into form. a poetic world is in the making. the marriage of the creative polarities of form and energy, space and time, is consummated by movement, rhythmic movement. music is central to all my writing, to my poetry, to life.
Annalisa: which is your bigger ambition as a writer?
Ron: to help make the world a better, friendlier, safer, more honest, open, accepting, tolerant world in which to live.
Annalisa: any dreams?
Ron: i have been living my dream for thirteen years. everything now is icing on the cake. life is an exciting adventure. i hope to spend the rest of my life traveling the world sharing poems music with everyone i meet.
Annalisa: what have you got in common with the beat generation?
Ron: much. it has been my honor to be friend, editor, publisher, organizer, and to read with many members of the so-called beat generation. today specialization is sold on every corner, fed in every home, brainwashed into every student, every young person. we are told that the only way to succeed, here at the beginning of the 21st Century is to put all our time, energy, learning, and focus into one are, one field, one specialty (math, science, computer technology, business). If we don't we will fail. We are subtly and forcefully, implicitly and explicitly, encouraged to deny the rest of who we are, our total self, selves, our holistic being. The postmodern brave new world seems to reside inside the computer via The Web with only faint peripheral recognition to the person, the individual (and by extension the real global community), the real human being operating the machine. The idea of and belief in specialization as the only path, only possibility, has sped up the fragmentation, the alienation which began to grow rapidly within the individual, radically reshaping culture, a century ago with the birth of those Machiavellian revolutions in technology, industry, and war. And with the growing gracturing fragmentation and alienation comes the path - anger, fear, anxiety, angst, ennui, nihilism, depression, despair - that, for the person of action, leads to suicide. Unless, through our paradoxical leap of creative faith we engage ourselves in the belief, which can become a life mission that regardless of the consequences, we can, through our engagement, our actions, our loving life work, make the world a better, safer, friendlier place in which to live. Sound naive? What does this have to do with The Beat Generation? with the youth of today? what place does the antinomian voice, the voice of the beat generation, the voice that, though trembling, speaks out against the powers that be, what place does this outsider voice have in the real viol ent world in which we are immersed? are we too desensitized to the violence to even think it worthwhile to consider the possibility of a less violent world? are we too small, too insignificant to make any kind of difference? the power-mongers have control. what difference can one little individual life possibly make possibly matter?
today the X and microserf generations are swollen with young people yearning to express the creative energies buried in their hearts, seeping from every pore of their beings. they ache to change to heal the world. is it still possible? is it too late? is there anyone (a group?) left to show the way to be an example? to be a guide? a mentor? James Joyce, King of Modernism, said the idea of the hero was nothing but a damn lie that the primary motivating forces are passion and compassion. as late as 1984 people were laughing at George Orwell. Today, as we finally move into an Orwellian culture of simulation life on the screen landscape, can we remember passion and compassion or has the postmodern ironic satyric deathinlifegame laugh killed both sperm and egg? is there anywhere worth going from here? is it any wonder that today's youth have adopted Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka, Robert Creeley, David Amram, Diane di Prima, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman, Bob Dylan, and all the other Beat Generation and related poets, writers, artists, musicians as their inspirational, life-affirming antinomian ancestors? these are people who have stood and still stand up against unreasoning power/right/might, looked that power in the eyes and said NO i don't agree with you and this is why. and they have spoken these words not for money or for fame but out of life's deepest convictions, out of the belief that we, each one of us, no matter our skin color our economic status our political religious sexual preferences, all of us have the right to live to dream as we choose rather than as some supposed higher moral authority prescribes for us.
Annalisa: what do you like or dislike with beats?
Ron: i like their life-affirming inclusiveness.
Annalisa: and what do you agree or not?
Ron: i disagree with their exclusivity.
Annalisa: who is your favourite beat artist?
Ron: there is much i like, admire, respect about all of them. Kerouac is one of the great writers of all time. Ginsberg's "Howl" and "Kaddish" are as good as any poems written by any other american poets. Corso is one of amerika's truly original poets. Burroughs, like Swift, is one of the most politically astute writers of all time. Ferlinghetti's poems get better and better. he is one of my favorite poets. Bob Dylan is the greatest songwriter of all time, and a great singer. David Amram, one of amerika's alltime great composers, is my favourite.
Annalisa: what do you think about that kerouac and others believe that literature has to be accompanied also to music?
Ron: the greatest literature is music.
Annalisa: do you feel a beat?
Ron: always.
Annalisa: what does this word mean to you? do you agree with kerouac's definition of it?
Ron: yes i agree with everything Kerouac said about the word Beat.
Annalisa: critics have always been very hard with the beats considering them just a group of tossic or rebels. According to you, why in their times they are not been understood?
Ron: in the next decade The Beats will come to be recognized as the most important group of poets and writers in the history of amerika. the Beats have given birth to new generations to new energies which are awakening to the realization that the creative imagination provides salvation from suicide, from death in life, by revealing that there are alternative paths to explore in this world alternative paths that lead away from the mundane, the superficial, away from submission to mediocrity alternative paths opening into the inspired fire called Life. the hallowed doors of academia, academia, the bastion of conservative thought, the doors of academia are finally creaking open (just as it took so long for them to open to James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett & all other original thinkers and expressionists) the doors are creaking open, and, finally, at least a discourse on The Beats has begun.
Annalisa: do you think the beat still exist?
Ron: yes.
Annalisa: what can we find of beats in America today?
Ron: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, David Amram, Diane di Prima, Amiri Baraka, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman, Bob Dylan, Ron Whitehead.

www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.insomniacathon.org

2004-01-01T15:50:00.000-06:00

updated brief Ron Whitehead bio
Ron Whitehead is busier than ever. For the past two years he has toured the USA and Europe with The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue. During that time ten new CDs and several books have been released including his KENTUCKY SUITE: BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON (books 1 & 2), KENTUCKY ROOTS (CD), KENTUCKY (CD with Sarah Elizabeth), KENTUCKY BLUES (with David Amram). Other new books include EVE & THE OPHIDIANS, EXTERMINATE NOISE (with Charlie Newman), and TWELVE KENTUCKY POETS. Other new CDs include I WILL NOT BOW DOWN (with Michael Pollock), EXTERMINATE NOISE (with Charlie Newman), ALLO, NOT MUTE, FROM ICELAND TO KENTUCKY & BEYOND, OFF THE CUFF, SWAN BOATS @ FOUR (with Paul K), THE SHAPE OF WATER (with James Walck), and THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE.

In 2004 nine of Ron's books will be reissued by Published in Heaven Productions (Philadelphia/NYC/Louisville). Ron has completed three new books which await publication plus he is presently writing two gonzo histories, one of The Global Literary Renaissance, the other (with David Minton) of Kentucky Culture. He is also writing a love story (with Sarah Elizabeth). Four other books are also in progress. Several thousand of Ron's works have been published round the world in a diverse range of publications from TRIQUARTERLY to ARTFORUM (Czech Republic) to BLUE BEAT JACKET (Japan) to BEAT SCENE (England) to FRINGECORE (Belgium) to SOUTHERN REVIEW.

Ron has produced over 900 music and poetry events throughout Europe & the USA including numerous non-stop music & poetry INSOMNIACATHONs. He has edited over 600 titles and published over 300 titles. He has presented over 4,000 readings/performances/talks/lectures of his own work throughout the world. For ten years he has been Director of The Global Literary Renaissance about which a documentary is being produced by NYC filmmaker James Walck. Hollywood filmmaker Mark Reese is producing a film of Ron's autobiographical novel BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON.

For eleven years Ron has taught 20th Century European and American Literature, Culture, and Writing at several colleges and universities. This is Ron's fourth and final year as Writer-in-Residence and Associate Professor of English at
St. Catharine College.

When not traveling Ron lives in Kentucky and Europe.
His official website, now receiving over 30,000 hits per month, is www.tappingmyownphone.com.

2004-01-01T15:43:00.000-06:00

Mystic music and dance: Babukishan

2003-12-09T16:44:00.000-06:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,
COLUMN ONE HUNDRED of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated December 1, 2003 can be accessed by clicking
SECTION ONE: DID THEY KNOW IN ADVANCE? JOYFUL ISRAELIS FILMED AS WORLD TRADE CENTER WAS DESTROYED BY JETS. If they knew in advance, why didn't the Israelis warn America? Maybe they did.
SECTION TWO: GEORGE PLIMPTON, 76 DEATH CLAIMS ANOTHER OF MY GIANTS. Yes, I knew him, too.
SECTION THREE: MEMORIAL FOR ANGEL. Matthew Rebak is killed by a drunk driver and another promising future is left orphaned.
SECTION FOUR: THOUGHTS ON AHNOLD. Author Lionel Rolfe says scratch an Austrian and you invariably find a Nazi.
SECTION FIVE: TATTOO ART: CANVASBACKS? Another in our body painting series.
SECTION SIX: THE EMAIL SECTION EMAIL PAGE ONE: BUSH'S NAZI ANCESTORS. An email from Amiri Baraka gives the long-suppressed facts about the Bush family's ties to Adolf Hitler dating back to World War II.
EMAIL PAGE TWO: UNDERSTANDING CANCUN. An email from author Jules Siegel defends the Mexican community where he lives.
EMAIL PAGE THREE: BY MAUREEN DOWD: 1. EYES WIDE SHUT; 2. DEATH BE NOT LOUD. Emails from Venire offer two pieces, one about the mendacious Bushies and another about the mendacious vice president, both by the New York Times columnist.
EMAIL PAGE FOUR: BUSH MUST RESIGN! Charlie Newman; MORE WORDS OF WISDOM FROM A TYPICALLY BRILLIANT AMERICAN YAHOO, Diana Nielsen; THE 9/11 ATTACKS, George R. Ferrin; Moon Jasmine, Jeffrey Green; FOR MOLLY IVANS, Wil Rogers; BOJANGLES, Moe; WHAT INVITATION? Martijn Payens; WHAT'S A GOOGLE WHACK? Melvin Lee; LOOKING FOR PETER CHELNIK, Monica Pesantez; TEN QUESTIONS, Nicole Peruski; ABOUT PURNA DAS BAUL, Debra Page; GOD LOVES YOU! Steve 'Drippy' Wardrip; WE DEMAND A HOLIDAY! Al Einstein; UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS, Taleb Mahmodi.
SECTION SEVEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.
SECTION EIGHT, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAFÃ‰, all about celebrities.
SECTION NINE, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers ten pages of ads from Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman; Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for Myself; Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL; and Richard Dettrey, who will help you with your shopping.
Would you, too, like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars. There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams. Hope you read and enjoy. Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-12-09T16:20:00.000-06:00

Subject: KId & Pink Monkey Birds play with Khan & Snax in NYC

hi..this Wednesday Dec 10...Captain Comatose (Khan&Snax) are in NYC
from Berlin for a special one off gig at Sin-E this Wednesday..Of
course, keeping it in the family (is incest best?) Kid Congo and The
Pink Monkey Birds are playing support at 10pm....on a related note
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds just recorded a version of Captain Comatose song "Mr. Monkey" for their remix album on Playhouse records, due out Feb/March
04..This is going to be one fun sexy party not to be missed.we will be
pulling out all the stops to make sure one upstages the other!..of
course, we hope the audience upstages all of us!...bring your dancing
shoes..it'll be a sweaty winter night!..see you there!

kid

2003-11-28T16:51:00.000-06:00

Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues,

Just a note before this Thanksgiving 2003 holiday gets underway.

For the holiday weekend I'm pleased to present some new and exciting content on www.tappingmyownphone.com and www.insomniacathon.org.

The Five new CDs from Published In Heaven Audio are now on tmop.com, go to the Audio section and take a listen to the Mp3s.

With Insomniacathon 2003, "Keeping The Flame Alive" 10th Anniversary Celebration still reverberating in our heads both sites have a great VidClip of our special guest, Dave Amram doing a rousing version of "Pull My Daisy" Kentucky style.

And finally a milestone of sorts, on tmop.com you will find the complete story behind the inception and realization of the Ron Whitehead poem, "Never Give Up" inspired by The Dalai Llama's response to Ron's question to him at His Holiness' visit to Kentucky at The Kentucky Center of the Arts back in the Spring of 1994.

Read the whole story and also listen to a recording of the actual question to His Holiness at The KCA and his inspiring reply to Ron.

Check out the Events that are coming up and do visit the Audio and Video galleries on these websites for great performances from around the world. Come back often, much more audio, video and pix about to be added.

So instead of the football game . . .
How about some music and some poetry?

Peace and Blessings to you and yours on this Thanksgiving Day 2003.
Warmest Regards and Best of Wishes,
Jim Walck

2003-11-12T16:06:00.000-06:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

COLUMN NINETY-NINE of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated November 1, can be accessed by clicking.
SECTION ONE: FOR A WHILE: A BARE BONES VERSION OF 'THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST' WILL KEEP
ON KEEPING ON MONTHLY. This explains I need help because I'm only one man and I have a million things to do.
SECTION TWO: COPS SAY PHIL PULLED THE TRIGGER, NOT LANA. Mad Genius Phil Spector faces a murder rap.
SECTION THREE: ROMANCE IN RUSSIA. This tells how I didn't get any when I was there. Those not yet 18 years of age are not allowed to access this page.
SECTION FOUR: THE MANTRA IN BLACK: 10 REASONS WHY JOHNNY CASH ALWAYS MATTERS. Pop Columnist Gary (Pig) gold pays homage to Johnny.
SECTION FIVE: LETTER FROM NASHVILLE: PART THREE: A SOULFUL TRIP---PANAMA TOURS NEW ENGLAND. Panama completes his tour.
SECTION SIX: THE ART PAGE: TATTOO ART: IS THAT WILLIE NELSON BETWEEN THOSE LEGS? Another in our series of tattoos on flesh. Or is that just body painting?

SECTION SEVEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG
ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.
SECTION EIGHT, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAFÉ, all about celebrities.
SECTION NINE, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers ten pages of ads from
Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman; Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for Myself; Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL; and Richard Dettrey, who will help you with your shopping. Would you, too, like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars. There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.
Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-10-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST will never buy another Dell. "Easy as Dell!" that company advertises. "Easy as Hell!" is what we've found with this machine. It started misbehaving right since Day One. Time after time, it kept freezing on us for no apparent reason. It kept wasting our time by making us shut the juice and have to go trough the slow procedure of booting up again. We've had nothing but problems with this Dell since its purchase. The cd burner wouldn't work for two and a half years until a Dell technician came and reinstalled it. The hard drive started failing after the third year. And now, just as we were about to put our new main index page announcing COLUMN NINETY-EIGHT on the Internet, the computer failed and we had to call a technician again. In any event, COLUMN NINETY-EIGHT, dated October 1, can be accessed by clicking
l Soon, you will be able to access our columns. It may take a while before COLUMN NINETY-NINE appears on the Internet, but we've got to take care of some computer problems first. In the meantime, here's the rundown
of what you'll find on COLUMN NINETY-EIGHT:.

SECTION ONE: NOMEN
NESCIO SAYS: CHICAGO WILL BE NUKED. It's probably an email from a
crank, but a very literate crank---certainly not the broken English
of a terrorist.

SECTION TWO: RETROPOP SCENE: LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AND MAN CALLED JOHNNY. Johnny Cash, that is. I tell the tale of how I met him and repeat a story about his concert at Madison Square Garden when America was at war in Vietnam and a crook named Nixon was president.

SECTION THREE: LETTER FROM LONDON: THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY (HA HA). There's
an Aronowitz living in the UK who thinks his government is lying, too.

SECTION FOUR: ON THE PASSING OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL. Toronto film archivist Reg Hart reflects on the artistry of Hitler's filmmaker..:
SECTION FIVE JILLIAN AND HER MOM. Yours truly collaborates with Woodstock's beautiful Dakota Lane in writing about a high school girl and her mother.
SECTION SIX: AGITPROP. Left-wing muralist and columnist expounds under a bunch of titles.
SECTION SEVEN:
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN. Our queen of erotic fiction, Tsaurah Litzky, tells another delicious tale. WARNING: PERSONS NOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE!

SECTION EIGHT: PART NINE OF MY MEMOIRS: SADIE THE PSYCHIC. Ed Galing completes his chronicle about the life of the bawdy fortuneteller. WARNING: PERSONS NOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE! : http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/column98h.html LETTER FROM NASHVILLE: PART TWO: A SOULFUL SECTION NINETRIP---PANAMA TOURS NEW ENGLAND. Country singer-songwriter Panama Red tells more about his journey in the Northeast.
SECTION TEN: FROM AN ISRAELI HOUSE: IS THE VIEW SCENIC OR IS IT MORE A NIGHTMARE? Lydia Aisenberg tells a disturbing story about Israel's fence.
SECTION ELEVEN: THE CARTOON PAGE. Tuli Kupferberg gives us A SHORT HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE.
SECTION TWELVE: THE ART PAGE: TATTOO ART: STILL 3 MONTHS TO XMAS AND SANTA COPS A FEEL. Again, we ask: is it a tattoo or very intimate skin painting?

SECTION THIRTEEN: THE POETRY SECTION.
POETRY PAGE ONE HEATHENS. Amiri Baraka's view from blackness.
POETRY PAGE TWO l SEARCHING FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Ron Whitehead muses about looking for Honest Abe.
POETRY PAGE THREE: PIVOT, WALKING IN THE DESERT, JUST BEFORE THE WORLD CHANGED ON THE ELEVENTH OF SEPTEMBER. Dedicated to friends, three poems by Nicole Wills.

POETRY PAGE FOUR: APATHY, THE MANY FACES OF GOD, WELCOME TO THE NEW REALITY SHOW... AMERICAN POKER, LISTEN TO THE CHILDREN and BETHINK: MANKIND-PREDATOR OR PREY. Three by poet Gary Stonecipher.

SECTION FOURTEEN: THE EMAIL SECTION
http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/column98m1.html WHAT THE BUSHIES DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THE 9/11 ATTACKS. An email from Amiri Baraka says they don't want us to know a whole lot of things that we want to know.

EMAIL PAGE TWO: THE VOTING MACHINE INDUSTRY GETS READY TO BULLSHIT THE PUBLIC WITH A PR CAMPAIGN. An email from Peter Coyote warns us not to let ourselves get fooled by computerized voting machines.

EMAIL PAGE THREE GREG PALAST'S 'LYNCHING BY LAPTOP.' Another email from Peter Coyote warns us that the same Republicans who disenfranchised thousands of black voters intend to disenfranchise thousands more, according to an
outstanding journalist,.

EMAIL PAGE FOUR: A NADER VOTER REPENTS AT LONG LAST from Venire; SEEING JOHN SEBASTIAN from Daniel Ben-Zvi; SEEKING TED JOANS from Edwin Wilson; SEEKING ALENE LEE from Harryette Mullen; FROM GARY (PIG) GOLD, an e from our pop columnist, who asks about an extremely potent, aqua-colored drink served in Russia; ABOUT THE MYDDLE CLASS TAPE from Steve Kilpatrick;
from Duh588, who directs us to
ABOUT GEORGE W. BUSH EMAIL PAGE FIVE http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/column98m5.html IS CALIFORNIA RECALL LEGAL? From Meredith; PLEA FOR HELP (from the
KKK) from Angela Boles; WOW!!!!!!!!!! from Peter Coyote about a
fascinating website; VOTER FRAUD WEBSITES also from Peter Coyote
about the Right Wing's plans to rig the next election; AMZANIG! from
sawsong, a ufnny thnig to raed; KUNGFUJESUS from Robert Miles, alias COUNT SMOKULA.

SECTION FIFTEEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN
GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.

SECTION SIXTEEN, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to
SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAF?, all about celebrities.

SECTION SEVENTEEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers ten pages of ads
from
Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman;
Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for
Myself;
Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter
Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL; and Richard Dettrey,
who will help you with your shopping. Would you, too, like to help
keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal
contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the
Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an
email to find out about particulars.
There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S
ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.
Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-10-14T15:54:00.000-05:00

Well my telephone was ringing
And they told me it was Chairman Mao
Well my telephone was ringing
And they told me it was Chairman Mao
You can tell him anything
'Cause I just don't wanna talk to him now

I've got the apolitical blues
And that's the meanest blues of all
Apolitical blues
And that's the meanest blues of all
I don't care if it's the unholy four, John Wayne and Dorothy Lamour
I just don't wanna talk to him now

"Apolitical Blues" by Lowell George

Paul McDonald

2003-10-02T17:03:00.000-05:00

Apples & Snakes celebrates its 21st Birthday with a Festival of Words this autumn – 15 November – 16 December. More information at Apples & Snakes

Sistaspeak
Apples & Snakes’ sassiest sistas revel in the wily ways of womanhood.

Zena Edwards
Zena Edwards fuses hip-hop-jazz grooves to the raw magic of traditional instruments, creating a rich backdrop from which her words and stories explode. Using live sampling technology, Zena layers her smooth-as-chocolate voice with kalimba to create a clever, fresh blend of eclectic, soulful vibrations.

Sonia Hughes
Sensual wordsmith Sonia Hughes’ magnetic stage presence has captivated audiences across the country. Her superb vocals fill the room, weaving a web of sensory delight as her poetry shifts from smooth and silky to bold and risky, examining life, love and loss.
“Intelligent, earthy and domestic poetry that very few writers manage” – Benjamin Zephaniah

Teju
Teju’s performance is a dynamic mix of urban, upbeat sounds, which incorporate rap, song, ragga rhythms and African dialects. Addressing race, identity, love and street life, her work examines modern life through the lens of a young Nigerian woman born and bred in London. Teju has performed all over the world and is co-writer-in-residence at Wandsworth Prison.

Melted Demerera
Melted Demerara’s woman-centred ‘her-stories’ transport the audience to the sun and sand of Caribbean shores with writing as sweet as sugar and raw as the cane it comes from. She is currently compiling her first book and CD-Rom, and will tour Australia in 2004.

MC: Brothatalk’s Ainsley Burrows

Friday 24 October @ 9.00pm
Battersea Arts Centre Cafe
Lavender Hill - London - SW11 5TN
Tickets £4.50/£3.75
Box Office 020 7223 2223
Book online
Apples & Snakes

Brothatalk All-Stars
Apples & Snakes hands the mic to our American brothas, bringing some of the hip-hop generation’s most powerful voices to the BAC stage.

Sharrif Simmons accompanied by Marque Gilmore
Hailed as this generation’s Gil Scott Heron, Sharrif Simmons takes his performance where others fear to tread, dealing with the toughest of issues with the softest of touches. An icon of the New York arts scene, Sharrif shifts effortlessly from the rhythms of funk, hip-hop and be-bop to a quieter savouring of silences.

Mike Ladd accompanied by Marque Gilmore
Every so often, an artist emerges with a style completely at odds with today’s mass-marketed hype. Maverick hip-hop poet Mike Ladd pick-and-mixes his bag of influences from Funkadelic to Run DMC, King Tubby to Charles Stepney. Star of Big Dada’s glittering stable, Mike has recorded and toured extensively, with albums including Vernacular Homicide and Welcome to the Afterfuture.

Marque Gilmore
Marque Gilmore is a legendary drummer and one of the founding members of NYC’s Black Rock Coalition. At the forefront of the Drum n Bass scene since 1993, Marque has travelled the world performing and recording with an astonishing array of today’s leading musicians, including Talvin Singh, Roachford, Mica Paris, Robert Miles and Roger Sanchez.

Ainsley Burrows
Ainsley Burrows combines a powerful stage presence with writing that draws on elements of jazz, soul, beat and hip-hop. Ainsley mixes a unique multi-layered sound, perfectly blending African influence and Western experience.

MC: Sistaspeak’s Teju

Friday 7 November @ 9.00pm
BAC Café
BAC - Lavender Hill - London - SW11 5TN
Tickets £4.50/£3.75
Box Office 020 7223 2223
Book online

2003-10-02T16:55:00.000-05:00

Paul McDonald and Hal Sirowitz at the Frequency Series and the Nuyorican

Paul McDonald and Hal Sirowitz will be reading with Shappy as part of the Frequency Series at the SoftSkull Shortwave Bookstore (71 Bond Street, Brooklyn) on Sunday Oct. 12 at 2pm.

Paul and Hal will also be reading at the Nuyorican Poets Café on Tuesday Evening Oct. 14, at 7pm. information on that reading.

Then on Thursday Evening, Oct. 16 at 7:30 pm, Paul will be reading with Leslie Lewis, Eve Packer, and Gary Keenan at the Halcyon in Brooklyn.

Paul McDonald
paulmcd@bellsouth.net
Like Neon

Got Shiva?

2003-09-22T16:36:00.000-05:00

Press release :

CRAMMED GLOBAL SOUNDCLASH FESTIVAL

Since the early '80s, Brussels-based Crammed has been exploring new forms of musical fusion, mixing elements of world, rock & electronic music, and often anticipating the musical movements which bloomed during the next two decades.

The label is releasing the Crammed Global Soundclash 1980-89 re-issue series (*), which documents the early days of the Crammed adventure.

To celebrate this release, Crammed are setting up three exceptional Crammed Global Soundclash Festivals which will feature concerts by a selection of the label's artists, past and present.

Come & join Crammed for a night of delights without barriers !

28 Sept: Brussels (Nuits Botaniques), 20h

29 Sept: Paris (Bataclan), 19h to 5h

(incl. a collective improvisation featuring 20+ musicians from all bands)

30 Sept: Amsterdam (Melkweg), 20h

The artists :

CIBELLE (Sao Paulo/London)

Originally 'discovered' by Suba, Cibelle is the rising new Brazilian artist, according to the unanimously enthusiastic reactions to her self-titled debut album. These very awaited initial live performances will enable the Brussels, Paris & Amsterdam audiences to discover the immense charm of this multi-talented young woman, whose imaginative musical world encompasses elements of bossa nova, electronica, jazz, post-rock... She will be backed by her brand-new 7-piece band.

Current album: "Cibelle"

TUXEDOMOON (USA)

One of the most emblematic bands from the '80s has just reformed after fifteen years. They're currently recording what promises to be their most beautiful album since the recently-reissued "Desire". Their own particular blend of rock, classical, jazz & electronic elements has never been as relevant as it is today. After their triumphal show at the Pompidou Center last June, these will be their first live dates presenting some of their new music.

Just re-released: "Desire" (1981)

ZUCO 103 SOUND SYSTEM (Europe/Brazil)

The audience of several major European festivals have had the chance to be exposed to the incomparable live power of this rhythm machine called Zuco 103. Explosive Brazilian vocalist Lilian Vieira, her partners Stefan S (keys) & Stefan K (drums) and their three fellow musicians (bass, percussion & DJ) are undoubtedly the heralds of electro/nu jazz/brazilian fusion... They will be presenting the 'regular' set on the Brussels and Paris date, and a special,

ZUCO 103 SOUND SYSTEM freeform electronic set on the Amsterdam event.

Upcoming release: "One Down, One Up" (double CD incl. unplugged jazzy sessions, live recordings and remixes)

TARAF DE HAïDOUKS (Romania)

They are probably the world's most famous Balkan Gypsy band. Since their first encounter with Western Europe back in 1991 (when producers Stéphane Karo & Michel Winter first brought them to Belgium and introduced them to Crammed) they've recorded four successful albums, have toured all over the planet, and count people such as actor Johnny Depp, fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto or filmmaker Tony Gatlif among their fans.

Latest album: "Band Of Gypsies"

SUSSAN DEYHIM (Iran/USA)

The solo performances of the amazing Iranian diva are rather stunning. She uses pre-recorded sounds, and applies electronic treatments to her sublime voice, in real time. This is another aspect of her work, different from her latest recordings ("Madman Of God", in which she revisited Sufi poetry, and the Bill Laswell-produced "Shy Angels") and from her multi-awarded collaborations with visual artist Shirin Neshat.

Latest albums: "Madman Of God" and "Shy Angels"

ELECTRIC GYPSYLAND feat.Shantel (Tsiganie)

After having released several albums of electronic music, German producer Shantel rediscovered his family roots in Moldavia and developed a passion for Romanian music. He started the now-legendary Bucovina Club nights at the Frankfurt theatre, on which thousands of techno kids have been going crazy to the sound of Balkan Gypsy music. Several members of Taraf de Haïdouks will join him on his "Electric Gypsyland" sets, which will celebrate the release of the eponymous album (which contains reconstructions and interpretations of Balkan Gypsy music by electronic music producers from all around the world).

Out in October: "Electric Gypsyland" (Taraf de Haïdouks and other Balkan Gypsy bands revisited by Shantel, Se?or Coconut, Arto Lindsay, Lightning Head, Mercan Dede, Juryman & more)

DJ MORPHEUS (citizen of the world)

No need to present the eminent freestyle DJ and downtempo/lounge pioneer : the man with the legendary flair & impeccable taste has been part of the Crammed adventure since the early days as, way before becoming the mastermind behind the Freezone series, he was the lead vocalist with cult '80s band Minimal Compact, who incidentally are reforming for a handful of special concerts in December, to coincide with a retrospective Minimal Compact compilation-cum-remix project triple CD set.Latest compilation: "Freezone 7"

(*) The Crammed Global Soundclash 1980-89 series: 2 compilations (World Fusion & ElectroWave) mixed by label founder Marc Hollander, 12 artist albums (Aksak Maboul, Tuxedomoon, Honeymoon Killers, Minimal Compact, Zazou Bikaye, Sonoko, Benjamin Lew, Bel Canto, Hector Zazou, Colin Newman, Sussan Deyhim/Richard Horowitz, Karl Biscuit) and a limited-edition boxed set featuring both compilation, a CD with 5 new remixes and a 52-page illustrated diary of "the '80s according to Crammed"

Note:

Sussan Deyhim will only appear in Paris and Amsterdam.

DJ Morpheus will only appear in Brussels and Paris.

***************************************************
Crammed Discs and associated labels
43 rue General Patton, 1050
Brussels, Belgium
phone (32 2) 640 79 14 - fax (32 2) 648 83
69
www.crammed.be
***************************************************

2003-09-21T17:27:00.000-05:00

Zoe Artemis' new site

2003-09-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

With the impending election season drawing nearer, the dimpled and pregnant chads of our counterfeit president's Great Florida Election Theft now face replacement by still another G.O.P. vote fraud. Punch card and butterfly ballots are being supplanted by ATM-type touchscreen voting machines, all manufactured by companies owned by far right Republicans, who are dedicated to making the rich richer and the poor poorer. How? By thwarting the will of the people in any way they can. And you know what? Only those companies can tell us what the final vote tallies are. There is no way to double-check on the accuracy of what those companies tell us is the true final election results. Those touchscreen voting machines leave no paper trail. We can't even get a true recount. In fact, there are indications that this kind of voter fraud is how the Republicans actually won control of Congress in the 2002 midterm elections.

And so, with COLUMN NINETY-SEVEN, dated September 15, 2003, we offer an ELECTION SPECIAL, dedicated to investigating how touchscreen voting machines didn't do the job they were supposed to do and what can be done about it. COLUMN NINETY-SEVEN of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, an ELECTION SPECIAL, is now on the Internet. For the COLUMN NINETY-SEVEN index, please click.

SECTION ONE: REPORT ON VOTER FRAUD. Evan Ravitz, founder of VOTE.ORG, gives us a rundown.
SECTION TWO: AS WE NEAR AN ELECTON: WE APPROACH CRITICAL MASS RE: VOTER FRAUD. An email from Peter Coyote gives us more details about how the voting can be rigged.

SECTION THREE: RIGGED VOTING MACHINES? HOW G.O.P. GUARANTEES WINNING NEXT ELECTION. An email from Linda Read expounds on the Grand Theft our nation once again faces.

SECTION FOUR: PAGES ONE and TWO: LIES ABOUT VOTING MACHINES: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 'ROB-GEORGIA FILE'. Journalist Bev Harris, who has written a book about her investigation into the lies told by touchscreen voting machine manufacturers, gets to the truth about the malfunctions of the Diebold voting machines in Georgia's election.

SECTION FIVE: SEEKS LAW TO AVERT THIS: ON ELECTION DAY 2004, HOW WILL YOU KNOW IF YOUR VOTE IS COUNTED? ANSWER: YOU WON'T. Rep. Rush Holt has introduced legislation to keep touchscreen voting machines honest.

We also now offer the following by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman about what's at stake for the Republicans---the lies and scandals that could be exposed if they lose the 2004 Presidential election---and why they are so willing to continue cheating and lying and doing every dirty deed possible to hold onto power.

September 12, 2003
Exploiting the Atrocity
By PAUL KRUGMAN

In my first column after 9/11, I mentioned something everyone with contacts on Capitol Hill already knew: that just days after the event, the exploitation of the atrocity for partisan political gain had already begun.

In response, I received a torrent of outraged mail. At a time when the nation was shocked and terrified, the thought that our leaders might be that cynical was too much to bear. "How can I say that to my young son?'' asked one furious e-mailer.

I wonder what that correspondent thinks now. Is the public - and the news media - finally prepared to cry foul when cynicism comes wrapped in the flag? America's political future may rest on the answer.

The press has become a lot less shy about pointing out the administration's exploitation of 9/11, partly because that exploitation has become so crushingly obvious. As The Washington Post pointed out yesterday, in the past six weeks President Bush has invoked 9/11 not just to defend Iraq policy and argue for oil drilling in the Arctic, but in response to questions about tax cuts, unemployment, budget deficits and even campaign finance. Meanwhile, the crudity of the administration's recent propaganda efforts, from dressing the president up in a flight suit to orchestrating the ludicrously glamorized TV movie about Mr. Bush on 9/11, have set even supporters' teeth on edge.

And some stunts no longer seem feasible. Maybe it was the pressure of other commitments that kept Mr. Bush from visiting New York yesterday; but one suspects that his aides no longer think of the Big Apple as a politically safe place to visit.

Yet it's almost certainly wrong to think that the political exploitation of 9/11 and, more broadly, the administration's campaign to label critics as unpatriotic are past their peak. It may be harder for the administration to wrap itself in the flag, but it has more incentive to do so now than ever before. Where once the administration was motivated by greed, now it's driven by fear.

In the first months after 9/11, the administration's ruthless exploitation of the atrocity was a choice, not a necessity. The natural instinct of the nation to rally around its leader in times of crisis had pushed Mr. Bush into the polling stratosphere, and his re-election seemed secure. He could have governed as the uniter he claimed to be, and would probably still be wildly popular.

But Mr. Bush's advisers were greedy; they saw 9/11 as an opportunity to get everything they wanted, from another round of tax cuts, to a major weakening of the Clean Air Act, to an invasion of Iraq. And so they wrapped as much as they could in the flag.

Now it has all gone wrong. The deficit is about to go above half a trillion dollars, the economy is still losing jobs, the triumph in Iraq has turned to dust and ashes, and Mr. Bush's poll numbers are at or below their pre-9/11 levels.

Nor can the members of this administration simply lose like gentlemen. For one thing, that's not how they operate. Furthermore, everything suggests that there are major scandals - involving energy policy, environmental policy, Iraq contracts and cooked intelligence - that would burst into the light of day if the current management lost its grip on power. So these people must win, at any cost.

The result, clearly, will be an ugly, bitter campaign - probably the nastiest of modern American history. Four months ago it seemed that the 2004 campaign would be all slow-mo films of Mr. Bush in his flight suit. But at this point, it's likely to be pictures of Howard Dean or Wesley Clark that morph into Saddam Hussein. And Donald Rumsfeld has already rolled out the stab-in-the-back argument: if you criticize the administration, you're lending aid and comfort to the enemy.

This political ugliness will take its toll on policy, too. The administration's infallibility complex - its inability to admit ever making a mistake - will get even worse. And I disagree with those who think the administration can claim infallibility even while practicing policy flexibility: on major issues, such as taxes or Iraq, any sensible policy would too obviously be an implicit admission that previous policies had failed.

In other words, if you thought the last two years were bad, just wait: it's about to get worse. A lot worse.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Hope you read, enjoy and learn what's at stake.

Best,
Al Aronowitz

2003-09-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

TRY TO PRAISE THE MUTILATED WORLD

Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June's long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.

You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You've seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you've heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.

Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where the music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth's scars.

Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.

--Adam Zagajewski

(Translated from the Polish, by Clare Cavanagh.)
>From the Sept. 24, 2001 issue of The New Yorker.

Paul McDonald
Main Information Services
paul@lfpl.org

"Somedays I feel like my shadow's casting me..."

---Warren Zevon
paul@lfpl.org

"Somedays I feel like my shadow's casting me..."

---Warren Zevon

2003-09-15T16:46:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

.COLUMN NINETY-SIX of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated September 1, 2003, is now on the Internet. For the COLUMN NINETY-SIX index, please
click.
SECTION ONE: WHO KILLED OUR LITTLE SHANI? OUR YOUNGEST CHILD, OUR BABY. . .WHO KILLED AMINA & AMIRI BARAKA'S LITTLE SHANI? Activist/poet, the controversial Amiri Baraka cries out in anguish.
SECTION TWO: NEWARK MOURNS SHANI BARAKA DOMESTIC ABUSE BLAMED IN KILLINGS OF 2 WOMEN. The wake, the funeral, the murders and the suspected killer surrenders.
SECTION THREE: AN OBITUARY FOR SHANI. All about Amiri Baraka's murdered daughter.
SECTION FOUR: NEW YORK, NEW YORK! SECRETS OF A MYSTERY ISLAND REVEALED! ---BY A FORMER INHABITANT. David Dalton's tribute to his former city of residence.
SECTION FIVE: CYBERSATANS STILL BUSY SENDING OUT VIRUSES. As a matter of fact, the dumbfuck wizkid cyber vandals are busier than ever.
SECTION SIX: JUST CALL HIM 'DANNY' RECORD EXEC GOLDBERG SAYS HE'S STILL A HIPPIE. Michael Simmons interviews the left-wing music entrepreneur.
SECTION SEVEN: OBIT FOR LYNN. Our queen of erotic fiction, Tsaurah Litzky, remembers "cock-hunting" days with a departed friend. WARNING: PERSONS NOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE!
SECTION EIGHT: PART EIGHT OF MY MEMOIRS: SADIE THE PSYCHIC. Still another chapter from Ed Galing about the life of the bawdy fortuneteller. WARNING: PERSONS NOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE!
SECTION NINE: LETTER FROM NASHVILLE: A SOULFUL TRIP---PANAMA TOURS NEW ENGLAND. How a country singer and songwriter entertains in the Northeast.
SECTION TEN: NO BLANK PAGES HERE: WHAT REALLY HAPPENS IN ISLAMIC SAUDI ARABIA. Khun Wayne offers email that describes the stoning to death of a Saudi woman; that offers an interview with Fugs Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg; that gives us a couple of film critics dumping on Bob Dylan's latest movie, MASKED & ANONYMOUS; and that lampoons the Catholic Church's stance on gays.
SECTION ELEVEN: Left-wing AGITPROP muralist and commentator Mike Alewitz has 16 titles in this column: 1. Revenge of the Constitution; 2. Tough Guy; 3. Thoughts on Tough Guy; 4. Tough Guy Is Messenger of God; 5. Life Imitates Art; 6. Dog Bites Man; 7. John Ashcroft Goes to School; 8. The Coat of Fear; 9. The Blessings of Capital; 10. Let Bygones Be Bygones; 11. War Criminals I; 12. War Criminals II; 13. Tools for Peace; 14. A Man Walks Into a Pet Store; 15. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists; and 16. The Pastry Intifada.
SECTION TWELVE: I WILL BOW DOWN TO ILL HEALTH BUT I WON'T QUIT. Port Ron Whitehead has health problems..

SECTION THIRTEEN: MOVIE REVIEW: Film critic reviews CHARLIE'S ANGELS 2: FULL THROTTLE and says it's "The Film Business As A Parody Of Itself."

SECTION FOURTEEN: THE ART PAGE: TATTOO ART: THIS BIRD SURE KNEW WHERE TO LAY HER EGGS. Is it a tattoo or very intimate skin painting?

SECTION FIFTEEN: THE POETRY SECTION.
POETRY PAGE ONE: STANDING BAREFOOT IN THE DEATH HOUSE VESTIBULE Elizabeth Jasper revisits the execution of a friend who committed murders.
POETRY PAGE TWO: DANGEROUS PLACES TO HAVE SEX IN KENTUCKY. Ron Whitehead gives us a very risqué poem. . WARNING: PERSONS NOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE.
POETRY PAGE THREE: AC?PITE, which is translated as ?TEM. Colombia's acclaimed poet Ra?l Henao gives us a new one in Spanish with an English translation by Cindy Schuster.
POETRY PAGE FOUR THE JESUS ACTION FIGURE WITH POSABLE ARMS, a tone poem by Chicago's Robert Klein Engler, who also gives us THE RARE MUSIC OF A RUSSIAN ICON, a poem in honor of this month.

SECTION SIXTEEN: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE ONE: FORKED TONGUED, MEAN-SPIRITED, UNPATRIOTIC BUSHIES THROW CIA AGENT TO WOLVES. Peter Coyote gives us a memo from a relative in the retired intelligence community about the Bushies pulling the cover off a CIA spy who happens to be the wife of somebody they believe crossed them up. And this is at the same time the Bushies refuse to publish pages of a report to the public pertaining to Saudi Arabia under the pretext that those pages might reveal too much about our spying secrets
EMAIL PAGE TWO: FROM DAN CLARKE, PARTS ONE and TWO are about Dylan, Hendrix, Todd Rundgren and rocknroll. FROM ERDAH DRHZH IN BRAZIL asks why Dylan doesn't speak to me any more; ABOUT JOHN LYNCH'S HULA DANCING DAUGHTER tell us all we want to know; Jack Neworth also tells us all about it in an e entitled, ABOUT HUNTER S. THOMPSON; Pajanover tells us a joke in FUNNY APARTMENT. WORDS OF WISDOM FROM A TYPICALLY BRILLIANT AMERICAN YAHOO come from Robert Linder.

EMAIL PAGE THREE: Bruce Aiken offers A COMPLIMENT FOR THE ZAL YANOVSKYARTICLE BY GARY (PIG) GOLD; An e from Julian Tepper tell us YOU CAN HEAR JULIAN TEPPER ON THE AIR IN D.C.; Karla Kelly sends an e PAGING NEIL STRAUSS; John Howard asks us to TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT SOMEBODY THINKS OF AUSTRALIA'S PRIME MINISTER; From TRACYSANDERS come MORE WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ANOTHER BRILLIANT AMERICAN YAHOO; Tony Skeins gives us SOMETHING TO LOOK AT; From Tony Naro comes an e entitled, TONY SAYS RECRUITER MADE DEATH THREATS.

SECTION SEVENTEEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.

SECTION EIGHTEEN, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAF?, all about celebrities.

SECTION NINETEEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers nine pages of ads
from Earwraps; Cleveland International Records; Richard X. Heyman; Christopher Pick; J. Crow's Milled Cider; An Advertisement for Myself; Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL; and we add to our list of donors Richard Dettrey, who will help you with your shopping. Would you, too, like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars. There are links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.

Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-09-08T17:57:00.000-05:00

OFF THE PAGE IV - Kimberly Nichols interviews Paul McDonald

"A few years ago I met poet Paul McDonald when he sent me his then just published poetry collection Like Neon, a discombobulated insight into the complications and chaos of an aesthete existing in a technological land. Recently, as the Iraq saga unfolded, McDonald re-wrote Gil Scott-Heron's famous poem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised which he read on tour a few months ago…"

Click on the following link: http://3ammagazine.com/otp/2003_sep.html

2003-09-08T17:53:00.000-05:00

Subject: mini bouzoukis and australopithecus

*****The latest from mundoblaineo.com.******

The site that would be a man, this man.
MUNDOBLAINEO NEWS
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2003

Greetings, sports fans. This fine Saturday morning finds me inside at my computer. Not for long, though. The weather here in Athens has turned at last. Gone is the stifling 40 degree hell that greeted me upon my arrival here. It is now kind of autumnal (“fall-ey” for our American cousins). I wanted to tell y’all a bit about the play which I am currently rehearsing, under the wise tutelage of Albrecht Hirche, the man who brought you “Spiel mir das lied vom tod” and “the ten greatest rocksongs in history”. Working with this guy is a blast, I must say.

The play is "The death of danton" by this german geek name georg buechner. He also wrote wozzek which became a famous opera by alban berg. Play be write in 1835, be about French revolution. I play an incidental figure named Herault sechelles or some such. As things are shaping up, I am a musical creature, I play "sunshine of your love" on guitar with dumbek and accordion, "man of constant sorrow" on open-tuned acoustic guitar with bottleneck as sung in the movie "brother where art thou?", and a couple of german lieder, one by Ludwig van. I have also worked up a grunge version of "la marsellaise" and one Ramstein-like bit of metal scratching of my own design. I serenade danton on banglama, a sort of mini bouzouki with 6 strings (tiny little thing). Of course, there is some fiddlin'. I've been playing "turkey in the straw" while one of my fellow actors wrestles with a vacuum cleaner.

One thing which gives me a rather embarrassing amount of pleasure is the bit where I do a big ol' campy drag turn, wavin' a fan, speakin' in French "tu es bien POINTUE, cheri", camp camp camp, billowy frock trailing behind.

I deliver most of my lines en francais, one bit in greek, the rest in English.

Note on the banglama. It was developed by rebeteka singers. Since they spent the time they weren't singing about smoking hashish actually smoking hashish, they were often put in prison. Unable to smuggle their bouzoukis past the watchful guards, they devised a smaller version which they could conceal in a trouser leg or something. I saw this greek movie with a prison scene. Two guys in a cell...in an American movie, one guy would have pulled out a harmonica. In this case, he pulls out this little thing and they starts a singin'. I said "there's the greek instrument for me." As a plus, the design of the banglama is such that it will function quite nicely as a hash pipe with some small adaptation.

This city is, as ever, a veritable zoo. Transportation is the main problem here, millions of cars spewing toxic clouds from satan's fundament contend in grumpy greek fashion to get from point a to point a, too much trouble to go all the way to point b in this heat. There is no real alternative transport. One with no car is obliged to either jam into a sweaty bus and journey for an hour or two or struggle with one of the many specimens of Australopithecus who drive taxis.

Happily enough, this neighborhood is an island in the sea of hirsute pursuits. It is infested with trees, particularly eucalyptus, there is a creek running through here and lots of fairly empty bicycle-able road. The secret is that they have put in place a labyrinth of one way streets, regularly modified, that puts off all of the low life proles who would otherwise use it as a shortcut. As a lifelong democrat, I am naturally ambivalent towards such an elitist hood, but I likes to bike.

Whoops, got all verbose there. Must be my third cup of instant Nescafe espresso. Whoopee. Now I must do my second round of yoga before doing my morning bike ride.

DON’T FORGET THE TUXEDOMOON SCHEDULE WHICH IS

Crammed Global
Soundclash Festival!

28 Sept. in Brussels during Les Nuits du Botanique
29 Sept. in Paris at Bataclan
30 Sept. in Amsterdam at Melkweg

THE DEATH OF DANTON
Premiere October 15, 2003
At THEATRO AMORE
Athens, Greece.

Here's lookin at you

Love
blaine

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we wipe it on our sleeve.
Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain.
If you want to be removed from this list, you have that option, but I won't tell you how to do it. oh, okay, uh, i forgot.

2003-08-29T17:02:00.000-05:00

New Shoes
Apples and Snakes brings the hottest and freshest poetic talent onto the stage and into the spotlight.

Matt Dalby
Matt Dalby’s visceral, political writing distorts and contorts language, twisting words inside out to reveal their inner meaning.
Rhian Edwards
Rhian channels her witty take on modern life into impersonation and word play, ranging from comedic attacks on bank accounts to the realisation that she would prefer to sleep with herself than any other man.
Eljai Morais
Eljai Morais’ explores issues from racism to relationships through sharp observation and quirky humour.
Caroline Nderitu
Founder of Poetry Lab, Caroline has worked all over the world, championing African poetry through her performances and workshops.
Rosemary Harris
A prolific actress and songwriter for the last two decades, Rosemary has focused her creative talent on poetry in the last two years. In this short time her powerful, intelligent poems have marked her out as an important new voice.
David Bennett
With an eye for the telling details and irreverent humour, David Bennett charts his observations of life, from small comic moments to the tragedy of the African droughts.
The Concentration Bandit
The Concentration Bandit is a writer and musician. He has toured national festivals, played alongside The Stone Roses, and had his poetry published in Poetry Today.
MC: Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Friday 12 September @ 9.00pm
Battersea Arts Centre Cafe
Lavender Hill
London
SW11 5TN
Tickets £4.50/£3.75
Box Office 020 7223 2223
Book online: boxoffice@bac.org.uk
Apples and Snakes

Malika’s Poetry Kitchen
Malika’s Poetry Kitchen takes the Apples & Snakes stage for a night of sex and revelry, exploring the intricacies of sexual awakening.

Anjan Saha
Anjan Saha draws inspiration from the language of the tabla, mixing timeless rhythms with contemporary subjects in an eclectic, playful fusion.
Raj B
Taking inspiration equally from Langston Hughes, Dizzy Gillespie and Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Raj B's perpetual aim is to capture the inner groove that slides within him.
Sundra
Sundra’s mellow, soulful tones examine the rich diversity of London life and the complexity of human emotions.
Patricia Foster
Patricia Foster uses sharp narrative and colourful rhythms to explore the epiphanies of everyday life. Her insightful, emotive poetry, short stories and monologues have enchanted audiences from London to Amsterdam.
Denrele
Denrele writes of her explorations of love, lust and other sexually transmitted diseases with trademark tongue-in-cheek salacious wit.
Baden Prince
Baden Prince presents a succulent blend of the political and the personal, linking individual histories with social issues, drawing out the meaning behind events, the stories behind the action.
Denise Saul
Driven by a love for metaphysical literature, Denise Saul's pen makes intuitive yet surprising leaps and bold associations.
David Ogunmuyiwa
An offbeat observer of the human condition, David Ogunmuyiwa's prose aims for the more unusual angles, exploring those things that push people together and ultimately pull them apart.
MC: Malika Booker & Jacob Sam-la Rose

Founded and facilitated by Malika Booker, Roger Robinson and Jacob Sam-la Rose, Malika's Poetry Kitchen is a South London-based writers’ collective.

Friday 26 September @ 9.00pm
Battersea Arts Centre Cafe
Lavender Hill
London
SW11 5TN
Tickets £4.50/£3.75
Box Office 020 7223 2223
Book online: boxoffice@bac.org.uk
Apples and Snakes

Writers on the Storm
A startling live mix of inspiration, innovation and eggs

Four outstanding spoken word and performance artists come together in a one-night-only reunion of Apples & Snakes’ hugely successful national poetry tour, Writers on the Storm.

Showcasing specially commissioned new work are Whitbread Novel Prize-winner Patrick Neate, award-winning performance artist Stacy Makishi, eloquent and intimate poet Aoife Mannix and naturally mystical performer Crisis. Directed by Suzy Willson (Clod Ensemble), this unique evening blends throat-grabbing poetry, haunting songs and an egg-filled finale into a moving and witty performance.

Main Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN
8.00pm Friday 10 October
Tickets: £6.75/£4.50
Box office: 020 7223 2223 : boxoffice@bac.org.uk
Apples and Snakes

2003-08-29T16:55:00.000-05:00

Robert Anton Wilson is running for Governor of the Republic of California as the unofficial write-in candidate for the Guns and Dope Party: Guns and Dope Party

2003-08-26T17:10:00.000-05:00

updated upcoming events:

September 3, 2003

The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at Pre-Dalai Lama Arrival Event
Bloomington, IN
7:30pm
contact Elizabeth Jasper for more info.

September 4, 2003

The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at
The Bean Street Cafe
New Albany, IN
7-8:30pm
contact Mickey Hess for more info.

September 5, 2003

The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at
The Book as Art National Invitation Exhibition reception, show opening
plus Ron has 2 works exhibited with Libby Ackerman and David Minton

Chapman-Friedman Gallery
624 West Main Street
Louisville, KY
5-9pm No cover charge
for more info contact: 502 584 7954

September 6, 2003

Sarah Elizabeth and Ron Whitehead are featured performers at
The Third Annual Mountain Traditional Herb Festival: Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves
At Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest
Buckhorn Lake Campground
7-9:30pm
for more info contact: beyondyonder@webtv.net www.geocities.com/beyondyonderrd/festival

September 14, 2003

Sarah and Ron read/perform at
the Second Annual Reading Kentucky Writers Event
The Janice Holt Giles House
1pm (Central time)

To Find Giles House from Campbellsville, KY: Take Hwy 70 south to the intersection of hwy 76. Turn right. continue through Knifley, KY until you reach Spout Springs Road, turn left. Watch for Giles historical marker.
For more info contact Sarah.

September 26, 2003
The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at
[details to be announced]
Birmingham, AL
For more info stay tuned to Events Section

September 27, 2003

The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at
The NewSouth Bookstore
105 S. Court Street
Montgomery, AL
doors open at 7pm (CDT) showtime 8pm
for more info contact Foster: 334 834 3556

September 29, 2003

The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at
The University of Louisville
Ekstrom Library Auditorium
Louisville, KY
11:30am-1:30pm
for more info contact Mike

October 1st & 15th, 2003

Ron leads year-long Writers’ Workshop at Carroll County Library.
For more info contact Jarret Boyd

October 4, 2003

Annual Arts and Crafts Fair at the Janice Holt Giles House
Knifley, KY
9am-4pm (central time)
for more info contact Sarah

October 9, 2003

Ron & Sarah perform with Tom House
The Rudyard Kipling
Oak Street
Louisville, Kentucky
7:30-9:30pm
for more info contact Nita

October 21, 2003

Ron Whitehead & The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue are Featured guests at
The Jungle, Evansville, Indiana
8pm(CDT)
for more info contact Bill Sovern
October 31- November 1

The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue performs at the 31 hour non-stop Music & Poetry INSOMNIACATHON 2003
at The Rudyard Kipling
Oak Street
Louisville, KY
For more info contact Andy Cook (info already on site)

November 2, 2003

Ron’s House Party featuring David Amram, The Rascals of Ragtyme, Sarah Elizabeth, & more
7pm till ?!
Contact for more info

November 4, 2003

From New York to Kentucky and Beyond
World Renowned Composer David Amram, Poet Ron Whitehead and Folk Heritage singer/musician Sarah Elizabeth create an unforgettable evening of stories, poetry, and song with The Campbellsville Universtiy Jazz Ensemble

Hamilton Auditorium, Campbellsville High School

Central KY Arts Series
Campbellsville, KY
7:30 pm
for more info contact: 270 789 5052

December 13, 2003

Sarah Elizabeth is featured guest at The Lincoln Jamboree
Near Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace
Lincoln Farm Road
Hodgenville, KY
8pm
tickets/information: 270 358 3545

stay tuned for events to be added throughout fall 2003

if you are interested in booking The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue or Ron & Sarah please contact
ron@tappingmyownphone.com or sarahelizabethky@yahoo.com.

Thanks!
www.tappingmyownphone.com

2003-08-17T17:05:00.000-05:00

When I substitute taught I used to write "Mr. McDonald" on the board and underneath it I would write "no jokes please..." I also went as far to say that because I had to grow up hearing a stupid song about a farm with "e-i-e-i-o" as the zip code, I became so angry that the only time I was let out of jail was when they needed to straighten out some problems in the Persian Gulf. I never really cared for my last name until I did some family research and discovered a lot of history, like Scottish nobility and Civil War veterans, that would make anyone proud.

My middle name, Ensslin, is the name of my mother's family, and carries a unique heritage. It's spelled E-N-S-S-L-I-N and should never be confused with the drug used to treat diabetes. The name is German and loosely translates to mean "under God's protection." Through a lot of tenacious research on my mother and aunt's part I've learned that the philosopher Hegel, the poet Goethe and the writer Herman Hesse are distant relations. Until they did their research, I never knew anyone outside of immediate family with the name except for a German terrorist named Gundrun Ensslin, a member of the Marxist Baader-Meinhof gang who died in prison in 1977.

Working at the Main Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library affords me with the opportunity to browse through a number of esoteric books, like "Germans to America: Passenger Lists Vol. 50." It was a pretty dull and tedious read until I came across a list that had the name of my Great-Grandfather and his family. Karl Richard Ensslin came to the United States and settled with his wife and family in a small German/Swiss community in Lincoln County near Morton's Gap. The community was named Ottenheim in honor of a New York entrepreneur Jacob Ottenheimer who secured the land and recruited German and Swiss immigrants to develop this part of Kentucky. It was chosen because it resembled the terrain of Germany and Switzerland; in fact, for a time it was even called "Little Switzerland." The immigrants brought with them their tradition, language and religions and Ottenheim became a thriving farm community with 800 residents, several small businesses, a one-room school, and a Lutheran and Catholic Church.

My mother and aunt have prided themselves on indulging everyone in our family history. One of our reunions was on the grounds of St. Sylvester's Catholic Church in Ottenheim where I met my great aunt Elsie, who at the time was 98 and who regaled us with stories of the family and the community in its early days. But the high point of the reunion was a tour through Immanuel Lutheran Church, the church where my grandfather, Paul Richard Ensslin, spent his childhood and teenage years. The church was built in 1886 and is a hidden jewel of Kentucky history. In the church are hand-carved pews, pulpits, altars and hand-made chandeliers. There are also signs and engravings written in German. Behind the church is a cemetery where a number of my ancestors are buried including the grave of my Great-Grandfather.

Ottenheim is no longer an incorporated community and most of the original families and their descendents have moved away. My great aunt Elsie, now a spry 100 years old has moved to Ohio to be with her daughter. Immanuel Lutheran Church closed it doors in April 2002, but since then the Lincoln County Historical Society has been making a concerted effort to raise funds in order to preserve the Church as a historical landmark.

A few months ago I spoke in this forum about the McDonald side of my family and getting in touch with my Southern roots. When I spent time walking down the aisle of Immanuel Lutheran Church and looking at the wonderful hand-carved architecture my German and Kentucky heritage became alive and resonant. I hope it doesn't disappear anytime soon.

Paul McDonald (c) 2003

Hear the mp3 of this commentary at www.morehead-st.edu/wmky/wmky_reports.htm and scroll to July 31st.

Paul McDonald
paulmcd@bellsouth.net

2003-08-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

Poetry International's Poem of the week:
TAHA MUHAMMAD ALI
- Translated by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi and Gabriel Levin

FOOLING THE KILLLERS

Qasim,
I wonder now
where you are....
I haven’t forgotten you
after all these years,
long as the graveyard
wall is long. I always
ask the grass of the field
about you, and the dirt paths.

Are you alive,
with your poise,
your cane, and memories?
Did you marry?
Do you have a tent of your own,
and children?
Did you make it to Mecca?
Or did they kill you
at the foot of the Hill of Tin?

Or maybe you never grew up,
Qasim, and managed to hide,
behind your mere ten years,
and you’re still the same old Qasim,
the boy who runs around
and laughs
and jumps over fences,
who likes green almonds
and searches for birds’ nests.

But even if they did it,
Qasim,
if, shamelessly,
they killed you,
I’m certain
you fooled your killers,
just as you managed
to fool the years.
For they never discovered
your body at the edge of the road,
and didn’t find it
where the rivers spill,
or on the shelves
at the morgue,
and not on the way to Mecca,
and not beneath the rubble.

As no one saw you
concealing your corpse,
so no one will ever set eyes on you,
and no earthly breeze
encounter a bone of your body,
a finger of your hand,
or even a single shoe
that might fit you.
Qasim, you fooled them.

*

I always envied you, Qasim,
your skill at hiding
in the games of hide-and-seek we played—
barefoot at dusk—forty years ago—
when we were little boys.

28.VIII.1988

2003-08-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

Check out this website at your convenience:

www.takebackthemedia.com

Paul McDonald
www.paulmcd.net
www.wastelandpress.net/Neon2.html
Got Shiva?

2003-08-17T16:18:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

COLUMN NINETY-FIVE of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated August 1, 2003, is on the Internet. For the COLUMN NINETY-FIVE index, please click.

SECTION ONE: HE COOKED THE BOOKS! THE 'BOARD' WILL OUST BUSH AS A BAD MANAGER. It's our opinion that this Republican Congress will NEVER impeach our counterfeit Republican President.

SECTION TWO: NIGER AND IRAQ: THE WAR'S BIGGEST LIE? WILL BLAIR LOSE HIS JOB AS A CONSEQUENCE? It's more likely that Blair will be ousted.

SECTION THREE: 1. AMERICA'S YAHOO DIET: BUSHIES KEEP FEEDING US LIES, LIES, LIES, LIES, LIES. As the L.A. Times' Robert Scheer explains, it's amazing what America's Yahoos are forced to swallow.
SECTION FOUR: 2. AMERICA'S YAHOO DIET: BUSHIES KEEP FEEDING US LIES, LIES, LIES, LIES, LIES. William Rivers Pitt points to more Bushie bullshit. It's amazing what America's Yahoos are WILLING to swallow.

SECTION FIVE: CHICAGOLABOR & ARTSNOTES. Leftist columnist Lew Rosenbaum says the Dixie Chicks keep going strong despite country music's hidebound allegiance to Yahooism.

SECTION SIX: RETROPOP SCENE: THE BENGALI BAULS WOW ME IN BROOKLYN, U.S.A. Al Aronowitz tells how he was bowled over by a performance by Purna Das Baul & company.

SECTION SEVEN: PART SEVEN OF MY MEMOIRS: SADIE THE PSYCHIC. Ed Galing gives us another chapter in the life of the bawdy Hollywood fortuneteller. WARNING! Persons not yet 18 years of age are not allowed to access this page.

SECTION EIGHT: MOVIE REVIEW: TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES. Film critic Joe Viglione liked the movie despite Arnold imported monosyllabic inexpressiveness.

SECTION NINE: BOOK REVIEW: THE BUG by Ellen Ullman. Reviewer Jules Siegel says it's like a detective novel.

SECTION TEN: BOOK REVIEW: DEVIL'S MIDNIGHT, A TALE OF SUSPENSE AND ROMANCE IN THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR by Yuri Kapralov. Reviewer Joyce Metzger says the book has a definite thematic intensity.

SECTION ELEVEN: THE ART PAGE: TATTOO ART: A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY ON A VERY BEAUTIFUL ASS. Is it a tattoo or is it body painting?

SECTION TWELVE:
POETRY PAGE ONE CONSUMER IMPERIALISM. A multi-part poem by Washington State's Charles Potts.
POETRY PAGE TWO 'JAZZ WAS HIS RELIGION - ALL OF TED JOANS & NO MORE.' New York's Steve Dalachinsky memorializes his late poet friend and mentor.
POETRY PAGE THREE WARM IT UP; NON-VIOLENT EXECUTIONS; PERFORMING. Three poems by New York performance poet Steve Ben Israel.

SECTION THIRTEEN: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE ONE BARAKA BLASTS ABOLITION OF NJ POET LAUREATE POST AS VIOLATION OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION. In an email, Amiri Baraka promises to sue to overturn an ex-post-facto law that abolishes his post of New Jersey Poet Laureate.
EMAIL PAGE TWO MORE ABOUT RIGGED VOTING MACHINES from Venire--- Latest Voting Machine News---incredible! FROM RUSSIA WITH THANKS from Andrei Shapov; KUDOS FROM PIG, Gary (Pig) Gold likes COLUMN NINETY-FOUR; PAGING ANDY CLAUSON! Old friend Roberta Carney is looking for him; FOR MICHEL WHITE, MAYBE? An e about Jim Morrison from Ron Stelt; SUM 1'S STORY 4 U, sent from Aunt Amanda Solley's machine; BULLSHIT!, Amlegends puts down the Pulitzers; THE ONE AND ONLY, Daniel Watt remembers interviewing me; FOR LUCY KOMISAR: A TAX EVADER DIRECTORY? Ernest Bobick proposes one; LUCY ANSWERS: 'A VERY GOOD IDEA'---it's al about her piece about Rumsfeld & stonewalling on the subject of offshore banking; FOR VIET VETS? An e from PAJANOVER imagines an answering machine at a VA Hospital; JUNK SCIENCE, (HE ALSO SAYS EINSTEIN WAS WRONG), self-styled evolutionary scientist Gary Novak takes exception to the idea that ultra-violet rays cause skin cancer.
EMAIL PAGE THREE EMAIL: FROM RON MARTINETTI about Jim Morrison and selfish shits; FROM DAVID AMRAM about his re-visit to Paris, where he participated in a Ted Joans Memorial; FROM ALEX ZOLA in which he pokes fun at Arabs;
WE CAN'T READ PORTUGUESE about Izquierdas y anti-americanismo irracional from ROBERT GONZALEZ. If we can't read Portuguese, we can't tell you more about it; IF YOU CAN STAND LOOKING AT ASSHOLES from Linda Read links you to "the website of the day"; AMERICA'S KING AND HIS PAWN, also from Linda---she calls it Machiavellis running amok---a column by Robert Scheer about the advice the Bushies get; ABOUT GEORGE HARRISON AND RAVI SHANKAR from "Geert" of Toronto.
EMAIL PAGE FOUR DYLAN'S HEAVY LIFTING, an e from New York Steve about Dylan's use of phrases written by a Japanese about a Japanese gangster; A DEFENSE OF BOB from Robert Levinson, who teaches "Discussing Dylan" at the New School. He defends Bob against charges of plagiarism by quoting a piece written by Jon Pareles of the NY Times.
EMAIL PAGE FIVE Email contains two articles by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. 1. TOWARD ONE-PARTY RULE; 2. WHO'S UNPATRIOTIC NOW?---About Bushie lies and G.O.P. fascism.
EMAIL PAGE SIX: BY MAUREEN DOWD: 1. ANTONIN SCALIA: INTELLECTUAL DINOSAUR; 2. NATIONAL HOUSE OF WAFFLES.
EMAIL PAGE SEVEN BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN: IS GOOGLE GOD?
EMAIL PAGE EIGHT FROM PORTSIDE: BUSH'S SENEGAL PHOTO-OP (THAT AMERICA'S LAME MEDIA NEGLECTED TO TELL US ABOUT); CLAMOR FOR BUSH IMPEACHMENT GROWS; DIXIE CHICKS STILL SPEAKING OUT.
EMAIL PAGE NINE FROM PORTSIDE: EXILED POETS CONVENE IN NEW ZEALAND.

SECTION FOURTEEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.

SECTION FIFTEEN, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAF?, all about celebrities.

SECTION SIXTEEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers nine pages of ads from Earwraps, Cleveland International Records, Richard X. Heyman, Christopher Pick, J. Crow's Milled Cider, An Advertisement for Myself, Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend; Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL, and we're still trying to sell our country and western shirts. Would you like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you, too, can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars. There are also links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.

Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-08-17T16:03:00.000-05:00

*****The latest from www.mundoblaineo.com.******

The site that would be a man, this man.

MUNDOBLAINEO NEWS

AUGUST 16, 2003
Greetings culture fans. This is old uncle guido here, writing a belated update. I am sure you were all just jumping out of your skins wondering what I have been up to. or probably not.

at the moment I am back on the island of lesbos where my wee son ian and his mother athena live. i have been riding my bike and swimming and so forth. yes, it's marvy here. yeah yeah yeah.

not so damn long ago me and the other tuxedomoons finished recording our new cd. this has been an epic journey. much of this material was written in cagli, italy 2 years ago. this time around we found ourselves in our old schlomping grounds the fine city of brussels, belgium. ah, bruxelles! ah belgique! ah, les frites! ah le mannekin pis! let me tell you it was most strange to find myself back there. i spilt a great deal of vitriol and moaned many moans over that desolate ville. stranger even was the fact that it didn't look all that bad this time. there's some mighty fine architecture thar. faded old whore of a 19th century imperial capital.

we set ourselves up in a suitably decaying rehearsal room with very high ceilings and a most delicious subterranean fecal vibe down by the gare du midi (which is not in the middle as you might think, but in the south of the city). and there you go. our friend and engineer coti k. came in, we set up laptop, amps, mikes, coffee maker and bob's your uncle, hey presto, we were in the record biz.

this said, what remains to do is to mix the dang thing. we plan to release this beauty around spring 2004. yes, we will also play bruxelles on the 28th (?) of september, so make your travel plans now.

that's about all i will inflict upon youse right now.

i greet thee from the sea

blaine

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we wipe it on our sleeve.
Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain.
If you want to be removed from this list, you have that option, but I won't tell you how to do it. oh, okay, uh, i forgot.

2003-08-14T16:53:00.000-05:00

artistfirst network

Audrey Hurley interviews Ron Whitehead
Thursday august 14, 2003
8-9pm EDT
Ron Whitehead www.tappingmyownphone.com

2003-07-28T17:46:00.000-05:00

Announcing the release of new Published in Heaven CD:
David Amram & Ron Whitehead
KENTUCKY BLUES
with special guests Casey Cyr, Robin Tichenor, Mike Cyr, Andy Cook, and Dylan Whitehead

to order Send $15.00 to:

Ron Whitehead
834 Franklin Street
Louisville, Kentucky
40206 usa
Tracks:
1. Sex Education, 2:12, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
2. Mama, 1:30, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
3. Dog, Sky, 1:38, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
4. Kentucky Blues, 3:52, David Amram, Ron Whitehead, Andy Cook
5. Wayfaring Stranger, 3:50, David Amram & Robin Tichenor
6. How Many More Times, 1:03, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
7. Numinous, 0:38, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
8. Searching For Abraham Lincoln, 7:00, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
9. I Have Heard Music, 1:21, David Amram & Casey Cyr
10. Westward Into The Canyoned Night, 1:29, David Amram, Ron Whitehead, Andy Cook
11. To Dream In Kerouac’s Playground, 11:01, David Amram & Casey Cyr
12. Tapping My Own Phone, 1:56, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
13. Shiva, 3:45, David Amram & Casey Cyr
14. I Will Not Bow Down, 4:04, David Amram & Ron Whitehead
15. Listen, 0:43, David Amram, Ron Whitehead, & Dylan Whitehead
16. Amram’s Kentucky Rap, 4:18, David Amram
17. Never Give Up, 0:56, David Amram, Casey Cyr, & Ron Whitehead

www.davidamram.com
www.tappingmyownphone.com
www.caseycyr.com
www.calquecinema.com
www.impossiblerecords.com

4 more new CDs will be released by end of 2003:

Michael Pollock, WORLD CITIZEN
Produced by Ron Whitehead & Michael Pollock

Ron Whitehead & Paul K, SWAN BOATS @ 4
Ron Whitehead & James Walck, THE SHAPE OF WATER

THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE (self-titled)
Plus Ron will soon have a new publisher. Stay tuned to his official website for Event & Announcement updates.

THANKS!!!
www.tappingmyownphone.com

2003-07-17T17:45:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

COLUMN NINETY-FOUR of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated July 1, 2003 is now on the Internet. For the COLUMN NINETY-FOUR index, please click.

SECTION ONE: THE SKIN CANCER PLAGUE. The sun's U-V rays threaten us all. Our counterfeit president says, "What, ME worry?"
SECTION TWO: PART 21: THE BEAT PAPERS OF AL ARONOWITZ; CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: TED JOANS, 1928-2003, A MAJOR BEAT POET. This isn't the story I wanted to write about Ted.
SECTION THREE: RUMSFELD STONEWALLS ON OFFSHORE BANKING. Lucy Komisar says Bushie corporate crooks don't want to foul their nests.
SECTION FOUR: QUESTIONS LINGER OVER THE WTC COLLAPSE. Margie Burns says Twin Tower steel was recycled before it could be studied.
SECTION FIVE: CHICAGOLABOR&ARTSNOTES. Lew Rosenbaum says Baseball's Republican Hall of Shame boss made a big mistake by playing hardball.
SECTION SIX: THE SKIN DOCTOR. Tsaurah Litzky says skin craves skin. Persons not yet 18 years of age are not allowed to access this page.
SECTION SEVEN: PART SIX OF MY MEMOIRS: SADIE THE PSYCHIC. Ed Galing gives us another chapter in the life of the bawdy Hollywood fortuneteller.
SECTION EIGHT: LETTER FROM NASHVILLE: WAS THERE LIFE BEFORE THE INTERNET? OR WHO STOLE MY NAME? Panama Red finds someone else using his domain name.
SECTION NINE: YOU CAN'T DIE LAUGHING. Toronto film archivist Reg Hartt gets a plug in for his hilarious Cineforum programs.
SECTION TEN: THE HULK. Film critic Joe Viglione reviews the movie.
SECTION ELEVEN: ENEMIES OF TIME. Joyce Metzger reviews Donald Lev's book.

SECTION TWELVE: THE POETRY SECTION
POETRY PAGE ONE RUN UP THE MOUNTAIN (SISYPHUS BOP). An epic poem by Amiri Baraka that likens the plight of African Americans to that of the mythical
Sisyphus, who was doomed to roll a boulder up a mountain. Of course every time Sisyphus got close to the summit, the boulder would roll back down again.
POETRY PAGE TWO THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED 2003. Paul McDonald offers apologies, acknowledgements and endless blessings to Gil Scott-Heron.
POETRY PAGE THREE
PORTRAITS FROM THE UNCONSCIOUS. Portugal's Paula Cruz, a newcomer to THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, gives us an excerpt from her very long poem.
POETRY PAGE FOUR THE POET HAS LAMB FOR LUNCH AT THE BOOK FAIR. Chicago's Robert Klein Engler takes us for a midday meal.
POETRY PAGE FIVE WHAT'S ALL THIS JAZZ? Linda Lerner, another newcomer to THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, investigates.
POETRY PAGE SIX SALTPEANUTS. An homage to the late John Burks Gillespie by the late Andrew Gettler, another newcomer to THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST.

SECTION THIRTEEN: THE EMAIL SECTION
EMAIL PAGE ONE Email from Khun Wayne about MARIANNE FAITHFUL, GARTH HUDSON, PHIL OCHS, Tsaurah Litzky's 'FIRWORKS' and our President.
EMAIL PAGE TWO Email from Shirley Pena: EYEWITNESSES SAY U.S. MILITARY AIDED LOOTING OF IRAQI MUSEUM ANTIQUITIES; SCHOLARS WARNED MILITARY BUT U.S. NAVY SPOKESMAN SAYS HE DOESN'T KNOW A THING ABOUT IT; EVEN BEFORE WAR, ANTIQUITIES EXPERTS PLEADED WITH BUSHIES TO PROTECT ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS.
EMAIL PAGE THREE Email from Bear: BEAR HYPES A COMIC BOOK HERO; BEAR PANS 'AMERICAN MANTRA'. From heliocd: A GENEROUS BUNCHA ARTICLES. From jcf: FOR JOSH FRIEDMAN. From Robert E. Johnson: REMEMBERING RICK PHILP. From Joyce Somerville: READ ALL ABOUT US. From Cordley Coit: REMEMBERING TED JOANS. From BadBob: ANOTHER SKYNARDHEAD DENIAL. From John Ochs (Sauceman Steve) HE NEEDS TO READ 'BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES: VOLUME ONE OF THE BEST OF THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST'.
EMAIL PAGE FOUR Email from Franklin E. Leming: DOWN WITH THE CIA! From Al Heisler: WHAT HAPPENED TO FREE SPEECH IN AMERICA??? From Allan Winans: DOESN'T THIS MAKE YOU PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN? (George W. Bush's job résumé).
>From Khalid Khan: REMEMBERING NYC IN THE '70S (mainly the city's seamier side).
EMAIL PAGE FIVE Email from Venire: BY MAUREEN DOWD: 1. AMERICA'S IMPERIALISTS: HYPOCRISY AND APPLE PIE. 2. THE ICEMAN COMETH. 3. JOUSTING WITH ALI G.
EMAIL PAGE SIX Email from Venire: BY PAUL KRUGMAN: 1. 'THE BIG LIE' AGAIN. 2. AMERICA'S 'MAN ON A HORSEBACK'. 3. THE CHINA SYNDROME. 4. THE
LIQUIDITY TRAP.
EMAIL PAGE SEVEN Email from Venire: BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF: THE ANATOMY OF BUSH'S 'BIG LIE'.
EMAIL PAGE EIGHT DEAR MOLLY IVANS (email intended for her) Email from B.D.: 1. THANKS. THANKS TO THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, TOO. From JMPEN: IS MOLLY IVANS AS UNBELIEVABLE AS GEORGE W. BUSH? From Marilyn Dunkle: PURE LOVE. >From Paul Macek: YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB! From Greg Brewer: YOU'RE THE BEST!
EMAIL PAGE NINE FROM PORTSIDE: BY MOLLY IVANS: 1. A TEXAS POLITICAL SHOOT-OUT. 2. BUSHIES' FURTHER PLAN TO GRIND WORKING
EMAIL PAGE TEN FROM PORTSIDE: BRIEFS: THE GOVERNOR WHO DISENFRANCHISED THOUSANDS NOW CLAIMS TO SPEAK FOR A WOMAN WHO CAN'T TALK. YOU CAN'T JOIN THE BILDERBERG CLUB. DEMOCRACY BRANDED FREE WORLD'S WHORE.

SECTION FOURTEEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION:
Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.

SECTION FIFTEEN, THE MUSIC SECTION,
features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAFÉ, all about celebrities.

SECTION SIXTEEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION,
offers nine pages of ads from Earwraps, Cleveland International Records, Richard X. Heyman, Christopher Pick, J. Crow's Milled Cider, An Advertisement for Myself, Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend and Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL. Would you like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you, too, can have your own advertising page in the
Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars.

There are also links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.
Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-07-17T16:43:00.000-05:00

THE MUSIC NEWS REPORT: JULY 2003

on tour: Aimee Mann Tour Returns to States

7/24 Los Angeles- Verizon Music Festival
7/26 Las Vegas- Paris Hotel
7/27 Saratoga, CA- The Mountain Winery
7/28 Santa Rosa, CA- Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
7/30 Seattle, WA- Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheater
7/31 Vancouver, BC- Commodore Ballroom

visit www.aimmeeman.com for details.

on the air:

Featured New Artist of the Month: Grey Eye Glances
produced by Aimee Mann bandmate Paul Bryan

free listen and free sample: www.greyeyeglances.com
(CD PRICE SPECIAL FOR MNR FOLKS $9.99)

on the wire:

Elliot Smith won the award for "Best Songwriter" at the LA Weekly Music Awards on June 26th. At the event he performed six songs including "Somebody's Baby."
Way to go Elliot!
For more info on Elliot Smith visit:
www.sweetadeline.net

2003-07-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

Get your copy of a 78-minute CD of poetry, music and noise!

‘not mute’ - 14 artists - 24 tracks
$15 (postage included)

1 : I Will Not Bow Down - Ron Whitehead
2 : The Ferlingetti Rag - William Sovergn
3 : Our Town - Michael Pollock
4 : a little business - Mouth And Hands
5 : Top Of My Head - Jack Shea
6 : Millennium Prayer - Paul McDonald
7 : Right there, by your heart - Janet Kuypers
8 : Who Is Crashing - Judith Johnstone
9 : Mercury - Inspector 99
10 : Baby Bush - Daniel Barth
11 : Ultimate Paté - Zan Hoffman
12 : Denial Ain't Just A River - Paul McDonald
13 : Mourning For Love, Country and Sanity - Ron Mier
14 : news_cutup - agent_k9
15 : another America - Mouth And Hands
16 : Somewhere - Michelle Rigot
17 : During Unrest - Inspector 99
18 : gears get caught in the mud - Janet Kuypers
19 : Chickenhead Heaven Blues - Jack Shea
20 : Compassionistic Conservatism - Paul McDonald
21 : jones part 7 - Mouth And Hands
22 : Desert - Michael Pollock
23 : Blue Highways - William Sovergn
24 : Tapping My Own Phone - Ron Whitehead

Send $15 (cash, check, money order, no livestock) to:

Charlie Newman
834 N. Hoyne Ave. #2
Chicago, IL 60622

=====
"...the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul." (J. G. Ballard)
www.unit-n.com
www.charlienewman.com
artists.mp3s.com/artists/292/unit-n
community.webshots.com/user/zsbn1

2003-07-17T16:28:00.000-05:00

2003-07-14T18:07:00.000-05:00

Bush Resume

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for congress and lost.

I produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.

I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas; company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago Cubs.

With my father's help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
I changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union.

I replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money. Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.

I became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my fathers appointments to the Supreme Court.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:
I attacked and took over two countries.

I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the treasury.

I shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

I set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.

I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.

I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.

I am the first year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.

After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

I set the record for most campaign fundraising trips than any other president in US history.

In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.

I cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.

I set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.

I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.

I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.

I cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.

I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind
www.hyperreal.org/~dana/marches

I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The 'poorest' multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her).

I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.

I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.

I am the first president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the world community.

I created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.

I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.

I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.

I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.

I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.

I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.

I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.

I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).

I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.

My biggest lifetime campaign contributor, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)

I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.

I took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).

I, with a policy of 'disengagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.

I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

I am the first US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.

I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.

I failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.

I failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capitol building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.

In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.

I removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.

In a little over two years I created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.

I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
I have At least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

I was AWOL from National Guard and deserted the military during a time of war.

I refuse to take drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

PERSONAL REFERENCES:
For personal references, please speak to my dad or uncle James Baker

www.tappingmyownphone.com

2003-07-14T17:36:00.000-05:00

3 upcoming events:

THE COMEDY CARAVAN’s BOOTLEG MUSIC SERIES and THE LAVA HOUSE
Present:
RON WHITEHEAD & THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE
With ALLO
And a special presentation by CHUCK ROY and THE NEW FAMILY COMEDY EXPERIMENT

At The Comedy Caravan
1250 Bardstown Road
Louisville, Kentucky
In Mid-City Mall
Thursday, July 17th 10:30pm - $5

Sarah Elizabeth & Ron Whitehead
Performing poems, stories, & songs From their new KENTUCKY CD

Saturday, July 19, 8pm
The Backstage Café
109 North Mulberry
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
$5 cover

Experience THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE
An event featuring internationally acclaimed poet Ron Whitehead
With an eclectic blend of poets & musicians producing pure entertainment.
Plus Special Guest ALLO

Thursday, July 24, 8pm - $5 per person at the door

Twice Told Performance Café
3507 West Hwy 146
LaGrange, Kentucky
502 222 4506
www.tappingmyownphone.com

2003-07-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

"Place ALLO side by side with Sigur Ros, White Stripes, & My Morning Jacket as one of a small handful of the most important new original groups in music today."
Ron Whitehead

2003-07-14T17:21:00.000-05:00

Poetry International's Poem of the week
MY DAUGHTER

My daughter, my sweet
we would be so well

among the shucked shells
seeing nevermore

the trees which climb
would have cares

but we in the earth
would sleep better

my daughter, my sweet
I waited too long

tell me that you love me
I listen, I come.

CLAUDE ESTEBAN
Translated by John Montague

Poem of the week
Claude Esteban page

2003-07-14T17:16:00.000-05:00

Poetry International Newsletter

Poem of the week:MY DAUGHTER
New poets of the quarter:
CLAUDE ESTEBAN
DANE ZAJC
New additions:
DEFENCE OF POETRY 2003: RAOUL SCHROTT
"Oh, yes, my client is ever the opportunist! No harm in admitting that!"
Council for the defence Raoul Schrott presents his case before the members of the jury of the Court of Fourth Instance. "This is the true achievement of poetry: in trying to portray the world as it is, it reveals the seeds of paradox wherever two words clash."
By Raoul Schrott

A TRICK WORTHY OF HOUDINI: POETS AND TRANSLATORS ON TRANSLATION
July 14, 2003
Brilliant errors, being the poet's psychoanalyst and the hardest poetry translation of all: renowned poets and translators Raoul Schrott, Sibila Petlevski and Lisa Katz discuss translating poetry.
By Martijn Meijer

THE LIVES OF POETS: CORRUPTION, CENSORSHIP AND ORGANISED GANGS OF GOVERNMENT BULLIES
July 8, 2003
Three of PIW's editors - from Zimbabwe, the Ukraine and India - were invited by the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam to talk about some of the problems they encounter as poets and editors. A discussion about the
lingering after-effects of colonialism, subtle ways of silencing, and downright intimidation.
By Martijn Meijer

Reviews:
"IRAQI POETRY TODAY": A REVIEW BY ADRIENNE RICH
July 4, 2003
"A dangerous and indispensable art", translation is both an act of social responsibility and an aesthetic experience akin to "making love with a new person, in a new body," according to Adrienne Rich. An American poet's
views on the war in Iraq, politics and poetry, and the "multiply-exiled, strongly-identified voices" she discovers in Iraqi Poetry Today.
By Adrienne Rich

Latest poetry news:
WHO NEEDS POETRY FESTIVALS ANYWAY?
July 1, 2003
The recent Israeli poetry festival in Metulla provoked a sharp controversy questioning whether there is a need for such events at all, and about the very nature of poetry itself.

2003-06-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,

COLUMN NINETY-THREE of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated June 15, 2003 is now on the Internet. For the COLUMN NINETY-THREE index, please click.

SECTION ONE: GREGORY PECK AND ME. We never met but something about me bothered him.
SECTION TWO: 'SAVING' PRIVATE LYNCH: LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! Her "heroic" rescue wasn't heroic at all. It was a publicity stunt.
SECTION THREE: SHORT BOB: A BOB DYLAN FAN'S MUSICAL EVOLUTION. He loves him. He loves him not. He loves him. . . .
SECTION FOUR: PART FIVE OF MY MEMOIRS: SADIE THE PSYCHIC. Ed Galing continues his chronicle of the bawdy Hollywood fortuneteller. WARNING: PERSONS MOT YET 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS THIS PAGE.

SECTION FIVE:BOOK REVIEW: SLAVES OF THE HSECTION FIVEARVEST By Doug Draime. Joyce Metzger reviews this book of poetry by a Native American.
SECTION SIX:POETRY PAGE ONE: HOW THE POET SLIPS FROM LIGHT TO SHADE and THE POET WALKS ALONG THE BEACH. Two by Chicago poet Robert Klein Engler.
POETRY PAGE TWO: AN AMERICAN MANTRA. Poet Charlie Newman, a newcomer to THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, is sick to the marrow of his bones, America.
POETRY PAGE THREE: THE TALIBAN FROM
TEXAS. Another newcomer to THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, Bob Riedel, dedicates this one to Tuli Kupferberg

SECTION SEVEN:
EMAIL PAGE ONE: PLANS FOR A KEN KESEY MEMORIAL, Kathy Briner; CAPN SKIP REPORTS ON WMDS, Ken Babbs; THE LIE THAT STARTED THE VIETNAM WAR, Dick Dettrey; THE DEVIL AND GEORGE BUSH, Ed Adler; THEY LIKE US IN SINGAPORE, Jacob Indran.
EMAIL PAGE TWO: THE BUSHIES: A GANG OF CORPORATE CROOKS? Linda Read sends us an e with an Arianna Huffington column that nails the Bushies.
EMAIL PAGE THREE: THE WORD FROM THE UNDERGROUND GARAGE, Jack Neworth; THE DEMOCRATIC LEFT AND CASTRO, Jose Antonio Vergara; NIGERIAN CON MEN: YOU ARE DOOMED! Josh Friedman; SOMEBODY IN NEW ZEALAND LIKES OUR WEBSITE, Michael Smith; ABOUT 'ROOM EIGHT,' Dennis Evanosky; A KNOCKOUT? Khun Wayne; FROM ANOTHER ONE OF THE MISGUIDED WHO HELPED PUT GEORGE W. BUSH IN THE WHITE HOUSE, Nicky; ATTENTION REPUBLICANS! PATCITDAV; POTTS SHOTS BACK, Charles Potts.
EMAIL PAGE FOUR: FROM PORTSIDE. A HIP-HOPPER SUPPORTS THE DIXIE CHICKS by Davey D.
EMAIL PAGE FIVE: FROM PORTSIDE: A BIG BOO FOR COUNTRY MUSIC. From THE GUARDIAN.

SECTION EIGHT, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites.
SECTION NINE, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAF?, all about celebrities.
SECTION TEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers nine pages of ads from Earwraps, Cleveland International Records, Richard X. Heyman, Christopher Pick, J. Crow's Milled Cider, An Advertisement for
Myself, Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend and Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL. Would you like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal
contribution, you, too, can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars.

There are also links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.
Hope you read and enjoy.

Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-06-09T17:39:00.000-05:00

DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS,
COLUMN NINETY-TWO of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, dated June 1, 2003
is now on the Internet. For the COLUMN NINETY-TWO index, please click.

SECTION ONE: BACK
TO THE USSR! Was rock and roll banned in the Soviet Union?
SECTION TWO: U.S.
FACES TOTALITARIAN ONE-PARTY RULE BY GOP. In the clearest and most concise analysis we've seen to date, Prof. Leon Wofsy delineates what America now faces.
SECTION THREE: S.E.C. REGULATIONS DON'T MEAN A THING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL FAMILY.
Margie Burns tells how the Bush family gets away with what Martha Stewart can't.
SECTION FOUR: LETTER FROM NASHVILLE: ANOTHER G.O.P. MOVE TO ONE-PARTY RULE IN U.S.A. Panama Red tells how the Republican-dominated FCC wants media moguls to control all the news that the G.O.P. deems fit to print.
SECTION FIVE: REMEMBERING TED JOANS. An homage to one of the most charming Beats who ever lived.
SECTION SIX: OFFSHORE BANKING: U.S.A.'S SECRET THREAT. Investigative journalist Lucy Komisar tells how corporations and crooks avoid paying taxes and launder their money.
SECTION SEVEN: JAZZ & THE WHITE CRITIC: THIRTY YEARS LATER. Fiery activist poet and critic Amiri Baraka accuses white and some black critics of still practicing music apartheid.
SECTION EIGHT: CHICAGOLABOR&ARTSNOTES. Leftist columnist Lew Rosenbaum comments on the Bushies' Big Lies---that Saddam Hussein was tied in with Al Qaeda and that he had weapons of mass destruction.
SECTION NINE: FIREWORKS! Tsaurah Litzky, America's queen of erotic literature, tells another dirty story. WARNING: FOR ADULTS ONLY! Persons not yet 18 years of age are not allowed to access this page.
SECTION TEN: PART
FOUR OF MY MEMOIRS: SADIE THE PSYCHIC. Another installment of poet Ed Galing's racy chronicle. WARNING: FOR ADULTS ONLY! Persons not yet 18 years of age are not allowed to access this page.
SECTION ELEVEN: ARETHA LIVE AT FILLMORE WEST. Mitch Myers' liner notes for a forthcoming re-issue.
SECTION TWELVE: BOB AT HOUSTON AGAIN. Khun Wayne reports on a Dylan concert.
SECTION THIRTEEN: X2: X-Men United (2003) X2. Film critic Joe Viglione reviews another "comic book" movie.
SECTION FOURTEEN: THE TRUTH ABOUT MATRIX RE-LOADED. Joe Viglione comments on still
another "comic book" movie.

SECTION FIFTEEN: BOOK REVIEW by Jules Siegel:
A MILLION LITTLE PIECES By James Frey. Surviving cocaine addiction.
SECTION SIXTEEN: BOOK REVIEW BY JOYCE METZGER:
SEX TOY by B.L. Kennedy. Pictures and poetry.

SECTION SEVENTEEN, THE LITERARY LINKS SECTION: Links to THE ALLEN GINSBERG ORGANIZATION, THE RITA DOVE and THE PETER COYOTE websites. SECTION EIGHTEEN, THE MUSIC SECTION, features the usual links to SONGSCENTRAL, PURR, POWER OF POP, all contemporary music e-zines; ART ATTACK, all about jazz; and THE CELEBRITY CAFÉ, all about celebrities.

SECTION NINETEEN, THE ADVERTISING SECTION, offers nine pages of ads from Earwraps, Cleveland International Records, Richard X. Heyman, Christopher Pick, J. Crow's Milled Cider, An Advertisement for Myself, Tommy Womack, Compliments of a Friend and Canadian singer-songwriter Annie Goodwyne, who plugs her recording, PASTEL. Would you like to help keep THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST on the Internet? For a nominal contribution, you, too, can have your own advertising page in the Advertising Section of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST. Simply send us an email to find out about particulars.
There are also links to friendly sites and we also feature MARK PUCCI'S ONLINE REVIEWS, originally edited by John Williams.

Hope you read and enjoy.
Best, Al Aronowitz

2003-06-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

****The latest from mundoblaineo.com.****The site that would be a man, this man.
MUNDOBLAINEO AMERICAN EDITION - June 3, 2003 - secure in the homeland

Hi gang. This writing finds me in the old country, the United States of America. I was called to my home town of Pueblo, Colorado on family business at rather short notice. I am sitting in my the kitchen of the family manse writing to you.

It is most amazing to be back in the land of the free, home of the brave in these security-conscious duct tape hoarding times. One of the first things I heard upon landing at chicago's O'hare airport was an announcement on the PA from the department of homeland security, reminding us all that the security alert status had been moved to "orange" and warning us to beware of unattended baggage for this reason. The vile strangeness of this announcement reminded me of a scene from "fahrenheit 451" or some other dystopian science fiction fantasy from the 1960's. This, my friends, was surely not the future I signed up for.

One may see that 'security' is a growth industry in this country now. Even the ads on the television that used to try and persuade young people to find their future in computers now peddle courses in "homeland security". save me. all sorts of nasty folks now patrol the shopping precincts of this country wearing black and toting machine pistols in the name of 'security'. They are no joke, my friends, one mocks them at one's peril.

On a less creepy note, having been away from this place for twenty years or more I can see without prejudice that this town provided the raw material for the landscapes of my dreams. I am re-visiting significant locations on my brother's bicycle, breathing in the magic prairie air, filled with delicious longing as the wind charged by its journey over the prairie, heavy with the musk of an approaching thunderstorm re-kindles sites of bewilderment in my being that I thought had long since been papered over with experience.

This vacant frontier town gets me where I live. I suppose that only when we get older do we realize that it is possible to have emotions which are oxymorons, love/hate fear/desire disgust/fascination. Small wonder that this oxymoron of a country, full of oxys and a hell of a lot of morons fascinates the world so.

bye

blaine
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we wipe it on our sleeve.
Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain.

2003-05-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a U.S. radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a U.S. resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16.
Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)?

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim

2003-05-28T13:49:00.000-05:00

Experience the* Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue

Featuring
Acclaimed Kentucky Poet
Ron Whitehead
With special guests, Icelandic Legend, Michael Odin Pollock
and opening group, nationally recognized Betty Dylan

Boxcar Books and Community Center
310 South Washington St.
Bloomington, IN
Friday, June 20, 2003, 7:00 p.m.
Suggested Donation $5, but no one turned away!

Ron Whitehead is poet, writer, editor, publisher, organizer, independent scholar, and teacher. In the past year Ron has been busier than ever traveling, writing, performing,& recording. Ron's newest book, BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. The UN/UNESCO "Poetry On The Peaks" program selected The Dalai Lama/Ron Whitehead "Never Give Up" message/poem Poster as its theme for 2002. Ron has presented over 3,000 readings of his own work throughout the world. His books include THE BONE MAN SAGA, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THIS TIME: Selected Poems 1996-2000 and I WILL NOT BOW DOWN: Selected Poems 1990-1995. Most recently, Ron and Michael have completed a CD which is scheduled for September 2003 release. Call Boxcar at (812)339-8710 or Elizabeth Jasper at (812) 332-1067 for more information.

2003-05-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, 2003

(apologies, acknowledgements, and
endless blessings to Gil Scott-Heron)

you will not be able to stay home, brother.
you will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
you will not be able to lose yourself on sex, caffeine
and investment portfolios
you will not be able to just say no
and skip out to smoke cloves during commercials,
because the revolution will not be televised.

the revolution will not be televised.
the revolution will not be brought to you by
the john d. macarthur foundation and documented by
ken burns over four nights on public tv
the revolution will not show you pictures of george w. bush
dressed in fatigues, blowing his nose, saying “newkular”
while leading a charge by donald rumsfeld, john ashcroft
and tom delay to eat hog maws confiscated from a harlem sanctuary
under the auspices of the patriot act

the revolution will not be brought to you by
clear channel communications and will not star
julia roberts and richard gere
or homer simpson and pee wee herman.
the revolution cannot be downloaded to your computer
and burned onto a cd, dvd or squeezed into an mp3
the revolution will not make you hot
or marry the bachelor.
the revolution will not help you find organic viagra
extend your penis
enhance your breasts
or help you find a mortgage at %0 interest.

there will be no pictures of you and jerry springer
being surprised by a long lost stalker
msnbc will not be able to play hardball
cnn will go out for a pizza
fox news will be forced to read the constitution because
the revolution will not be televised.

will and grace, american idol and jay leno
will no longer be so damned relevant, and
no one will give a righteous rat’s ass whether or not
the tribe has spoken
because people will be in the street
in the park
in the country
dancing naked
and looking for a brighter day.

there will be no film at eleven
or on the half hour
there will be no pictures of cross-dressing militants
waiting in line to be interviewed
by geraldo rivera packing heat
or jesse ventura holding a bra up to the light
to look for a hidden microphone
the theme song will not be written by sammy cahn
nor sung by n’sync, brittany spears,
madonna, or wayne newton

the revolution will not get jiggy with it
get word to your mother
give a shit who let the dogs out
or who got milk
the revolution will not be digitized
analyzed
stigmatized
or sanitized for your protection

the revolution will not fall down and
not be able to get it up
the revolution will not cure
the heartbreak of psoriasis
herpes
chicken pox
smallpox
inject your eyelids with botox
but will cause a massive reaction to
pax americana

the revolution will not be right back
after a word from sprint pcs
verizon wireless
cingular wireless
or some cat dander ragweed astrologer
the revolution will not be recommended
by four out of five doctors
or have side effects that include
temporary weight gain
dizziness
blurred vision
dry mouth
constipation
depression
hallucinations
the revolution will not be for the sea-food lover in you
the revolution will not go down easy.

the revolution will not be televised,
will not be televised,
will not be televised,
will not be televised.
the revolution will not be re-run in syndication
or shown on instant replay
or shown on instant replay
the revolution will be live
the revolution will be real

Paul McDonald © 2003
Based on The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
By Gil Scott-Heron © 1970

Check out original lyrics at www.gilscottheron.com

Paul McDonald

paulmcd@bellsouth.net
www.paulmcd.net
www.wastelandpress.net/Neon2

"If you don't know where you're going,
Any road will take you there..."
---George Harrison

Got Shiva?

2003-05-25T15:09:00.000-05:00

From David Amram
To Laura For Ted Joans
Dear Laura:
I just heard about Ted's passing and wanted to e-mail you tell you how sorry I was, and hope you will know that you are not alone, and that many like myself (I knew Ted since 1956) will always miss him, as you and his children. So will all the people around the world of all ages, whose lives he touched.
As I wrote in my book Offbeat; Collaborating with Kerouac, Ted was the one who called me to tell me of Jack Kerouac's passing in 1969.
I hear his voice everyday, telling me that it couldn't have possibly have happened. It seems impossible that Ted, like Jack, is still not with us, and being larger than life, he will probably continue to surprise us by showing up in our minds and hearts when we least expect it.
Now Ted is with Jack, and they will have to build a new after hours club in heaven to accommodate them both during their late night/early morning jam sessions, when all the other angels are sleeping
If I could be of any help for a memorial, or for establishing a scholarship fund for young poets, painters and musicians in his name, in the USA or Canada, or in Paris, please let me know.
I'll dedicate my two nights at the Shakespeare Books Literary Festival in Paris (June 11th and 12th) in Ted's memory. He has many friends there.
I also have a wonderful VHS of us doing 12 minutes scat duet at NYU Conference in NYC in 1994, which I could send to his family and/or you, for whatever value it might have. He was a masterful performer and improviser of words as well as music.
He was always the friend and the consummate jazz poet to all of us who were improvising musicians, from the 50's until his leaving us.
During the years I played with the bands of Mingus, Oscar Pettiford, Dizzy, Lionel Hampton, Mary Lou Williams and many other of the giants of jazz, Ted was someone we all felt was a brother spirit, because he knew what the music was about,
Ted could scat sing on a par with any of us, and he understood the music, the struggle, the high goals, the spirituality and the dedication which we all shared, and the feeling of inclusiveness, and the positive energy we always shared with everyone, no matter how hard the circumstances were. That is what the music was and will always be all about. That's what Ted's whole life was all about.
Ted was a great jazz spirit, a natural born bard and troubadour who played his horn using words, and a spreader of joy everywhere he went. His openness, warmth and sense of adventure and daring was/is what jazz and all true music of any genre is all about.
My thoughts go to you and his kids. (I knew the younger ones, now all grown)
My own three children, now all grown, loved him since they were little tots, as all kids did.
He may have left us, but he will always still be here in our hearts. My best to you and all those beautiful kids.
David Amram
amramdavid@aol.com
www.DavidAmram.com

2003-05-25T15:07:00.000-05:00